Same test but very different

[Guest guest]

Sometimes we assume things to be quite shocked. I have had several

echocardiograms before today and stress echos as well. However, never

one as thorough as today. I thought there was simply one way to do

them. Mine today involved more readings, him checking more areas and

ones I hadn't had checked. For instance, he held the wand to the area

just under my neck, having me raise my chin. Then he also had me

position on my side with my lung just right and dropped a section of

the bed out from under me so he could get a good reading from the lung.

He had me do more inhaling, exhaling and holding of breath. He said

they had a complete protocol and only did complete echos. He boasted of

them being one of only 71 accredited Chest Pain Centers in the country.

I'm anxious to hear the results but certainly felt like, in comparison,

my other echos were far less complete. He also felt quite confident in

getting accurate pressures as far as pulmonary hypertension, which I

thought ultimately could only be gotten by catheter.

I don't know, but just before today I thought an echo was an echo. How

many of you have encountered the same test being administered very

differently at different facilities?