I went in for my MRI yesterday. I took 1.5 mg of Ativan prior to the MRI. Thank goodness I did because I was in the tube for two and a half hours! I was very relaxed for the MRI and did a good job of following directions. I spent the entire time in the MRI holding my breath every 30 seconds or so. I would be told "breathe in and hold" and then could hear the MRI machine taking the images. I was able to have headphones on and listen to music while I was in the machine. It was actually fairly comfortable. About halfway through I was injected with dye via IV and they did more images.
The tech told me that the Radiologists would review my MRI and send the results to my doctor. I already have an appointment to go over the results on Friday September 9th at 4:15pm. I hate waiting!!! I am just not patient enough to wait over a week to find out if I have a tumor or if I just have a bulging wall or oddity in my valve.
I feel like if I actually make it to my September appointment the news will be good. If anything is wrong I think they'll call me in earlier. I am cautiously optimistic that on September 9th this whole fiasco will be over. I am hopeful that there is nothing seriously wrong with me. I can get off of the coumadin and move on with life. But I'm also prepared if the news is bad. I just want to know.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
3rd Echocardiogram
I went in for my 3rd echo today. It was very amusing!
I started with one sonographer who was searching for my mass and quickly found it. Then a second sonographer came in and they were discussing if they could find the mass, and which angles they could see it from, etc. They did this for about 15 minutes. Then Dr A came in and took over the echo with the techs still there. He ran the echo for about 30 minutes. He looked at the mass from all different angles. He and the techs were discussing the motion of the mass, how it related to my heart anatomy, etc. Dr A kept saying over and over "what is that? What is that?" He discussed how it could be part of my wall that has an odd thickness and is bulging, how it could be an odd part of my valve, or that it could be a mass. The good news is that he said it's not moving in the direction a myxoma usually moves. But they have no idea what it is.
After 45 minutes of watching my echo and listening to the doctor and techs talking he decided I should be sent for a Cardiac MRI. This has to be done at the hospital. He plans on giving my a medication to slow my heart rate to improve the pics. As far as the size goes, he didn't measure. He said he was more concerned about the location and movement in order to determine if he wants to send me for the MRI.
The hospital should be calling me in the next day or two to schedule the cardiac MRI. Hopefully after this MRI they can finally determine once and for all what the mass DEFINITELY is and what to do about it.
More waiting!!
I started with one sonographer who was searching for my mass and quickly found it. Then a second sonographer came in and they were discussing if they could find the mass, and which angles they could see it from, etc. They did this for about 15 minutes. Then Dr A came in and took over the echo with the techs still there. He ran the echo for about 30 minutes. He looked at the mass from all different angles. He and the techs were discussing the motion of the mass, how it related to my heart anatomy, etc. Dr A kept saying over and over "what is that? What is that?" He discussed how it could be part of my wall that has an odd thickness and is bulging, how it could be an odd part of my valve, or that it could be a mass. The good news is that he said it's not moving in the direction a myxoma usually moves. But they have no idea what it is.
After 45 minutes of watching my echo and listening to the doctor and techs talking he decided I should be sent for a Cardiac MRI. This has to be done at the hospital. He plans on giving my a medication to slow my heart rate to improve the pics. As far as the size goes, he didn't measure. He said he was more concerned about the location and movement in order to determine if he wants to send me for the MRI.
The hospital should be calling me in the next day or two to schedule the cardiac MRI. Hopefully after this MRI they can finally determine once and for all what the mass DEFINITELY is and what to do about it.
More waiting!!
The Cardiac MRI is scheduled for Tuesday August 30th.
Follow up appointment to review MRI results September 9th.
Follow up appointment to review MRI results September 9th.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Follow-Up w/ my Regular Cardiologist--A Positive Appointment
I had a follow-up appointment today. It was loooong, but rather uneventful and somewhat positive.
Dr A. was running 2 hours behind schedule. John came with me to my appointment and we waited a very long time, but Dr A was cheerful as usual. He asked how I'd been feeling and how things are going. I told him I feel great!
We discussed the fact that some of the other doctors are un-concerned about the mass on my heart. He did show my films to a few other doctors and they didn't know what the mass was, but initially didn't see it as well. Dr A said that he is still concerned and that he would rather be wrong than be unconcerned and miss anything. He had me repeat an echo cardiogram in office today. The mass was still there in the same place. The sonographer thought it was probably just a shadow, but what's the likelihood of there being a shadow in the same place on 2 echos and 1 TEE? Dr A wants me to come in for another echo cardiogram next week some time and Dr A will be present during the echo to guide the sonographer and try to get exactly what he wants. He wants a measurement of the mass and wants to compare that to the last measurements. Then if he is still concerned (which he believes he will be) he will schedule the iodine test, 3-D imaging of my heart, in one month.
Dr A did mention a few times that the mass could be nothing more than a bulging wall, or it could be something more serious (like a myxoma?). So more waiting it is. The only bad news is that my theory that this could be a thrombus, blood clot, is gone because if it was nothing more than a blood clot the mass would be gone now. Coumadin would have destroyed it. So we're back to a mystery mass in my heart, or a bulging wall.
Dr A. was running 2 hours behind schedule. John came with me to my appointment and we waited a very long time, but Dr A was cheerful as usual. He asked how I'd been feeling and how things are going. I told him I feel great!
We discussed the fact that some of the other doctors are un-concerned about the mass on my heart. He did show my films to a few other doctors and they didn't know what the mass was, but initially didn't see it as well. Dr A said that he is still concerned and that he would rather be wrong than be unconcerned and miss anything. He had me repeat an echo cardiogram in office today. The mass was still there in the same place. The sonographer thought it was probably just a shadow, but what's the likelihood of there being a shadow in the same place on 2 echos and 1 TEE? Dr A wants me to come in for another echo cardiogram next week some time and Dr A will be present during the echo to guide the sonographer and try to get exactly what he wants. He wants a measurement of the mass and wants to compare that to the last measurements. Then if he is still concerned (which he believes he will be) he will schedule the iodine test, 3-D imaging of my heart, in one month.
Dr A did mention a few times that the mass could be nothing more than a bulging wall, or it could be something more serious (like a myxoma?). So more waiting it is. The only bad news is that my theory that this could be a thrombus, blood clot, is gone because if it was nothing more than a blood clot the mass would be gone now. Coumadin would have destroyed it. So we're back to a mystery mass in my heart, or a bulging wall.
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