Echocardiogram: take 2

I am scheduled for another echocardiogram this morning. UCLA Transplant Center requested it after my previous one since there appeared to be fluid in my lungs. After running the Crit-Line monitor during dialysis for the past two weeks, I think we took out a lot of excess fluid so hopefully UCLA will be satisfied with the results.

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It’s 11:00 am and I’m back home. The echo scan tool about 20 minutes. This time, I was looking at the machine and saw most of the scan results. Since it’s an ultrasound, the pictures were blurry but you can see the heart muscles and valves pretty clearly. The tech had to freeze frame and trace out several heart cavities on the screen; I guess that’s how they determine volumes. It was pretty weird looking a moving images of your own heart. The worst part of the exam was that the room was pretty cold and you have to remove your shirt. I was shivering for the first few minutes until he covered me with a small towel. I can’t interpret anything from the screen so I have to wait for my cardiologist to call me back.