A Day of Tests

Tuesday the 21st I started my day at the University Hospital in the Heart and CardioVascular Center. Unlike the Cancer Clinic, the receptionist/check-in girls don't smile. Today I had my first TTE - short for Transthoracic Echocardiogram - long for Echogram. Until then, I had no idea what the test is all about. It uses high-pitched waves that are sent through a transducer. This device picks up the echos of the sound waves as they bounce off the different parts of your heart. These echos are then turned into moving pictures of your heart. They are really cool to watch as the technician does his job.

Because I scored lower on my third heart MUGA Scan than I did on the first one (which red flagged me for Congestive Heart Failure) this test was done. It checks for abnormal heart sounds (got that), shortness of breath (sometimes have that), irregular heartbeats (got that) and a bunch of other stuff such as: Scott said they wanted to make sure that I do still have a heart and that it isn't all ice. Gotta love the man :)

What my new Cardiologist Dr Ewer was looking at was my ejection fraction rate which is how much blood the heart is pumping during each heartbeat. Because the first round of chemo damages the heart, he wanted to see what my heart was doing. What I find amazing, every time I have a new test done I am asked if I have had it before. The answer is always no. Bummer. The doctors don't have a past test to compare to so they never know what changes have taken place in whatever organ they are looking at.

Anyway, I squeaked by this test as well. Normal rate is 55 and above. I scored 55! (I did much better in school on my tests than I seem to be doing on my medical tests!) Dr. E. said my heart was not under stress and I had two options: 1) start another new med, stop treatment for 3 months for the heart to recover then get a second echo gram and see him. OR 2) start the new med, continue treatment, get a second echogram in 5-6 weeks and see Dr. E in 3 months, unless I do poorly on the second echo. Tough choice - not. I'm going for it and continuing my treatment. No delays for me much less 3 months!

The new med is for high blood pressure. I don't have high blood pressure. Sometimes it is really low! I am curious about the side effects (yes more side effects). I am told I will get light headed and will have a constant dry nagging cough. Great. I will be on this med throughout the course of treatment.

My afternoon was spent at the University Health Clinic by our home, Here I had my CT scan done for my radiation treatments. The best part of this was the two really cute Residents. I had two different scans done - one breathing normally, and one holding my breath. Dr. Richardson, my Radiation Oncologist, will compare the two and come up with a plan for my treatments. After the scans, one of the cuties gave me my four new 'dot' tattoos - he was very good with the needle. Then I had a photo of the side of the breast. Scott didn't even flinch when I came home and told him, quite gleefully, that I had to bare myself in front of two cute Residents!

Friday, the 24th, I am back at the Cancer Clinic for Lab, Dr. W, and hopefully treatment.