Ectocardiogram?

[Zen]

I have to have one yearly in order to stay on the transplant list.
I can't do a treadmill test because of my bum knee/hip/back so I have to be injected with dobutamine in order to raise my heart rate.
Even then they can't raise it very high. I have to lay on a table and do leg lifts.
It's old hat by now, nothing to be concerned about.

It is pretty cool to see the sonogram screen though.

[maillotpois]

I'm going to get tested for a genetic disposition to embolisms though, some kind of pre-disposition that 7% of the population have. But since I'm not on the pill and I don't smoke the dr. wasn't overly concerned.

Harumph. you may be the spelling nazi, but I am the embolism nazi. follow up on that, ok? even w/no other risk factors, the genetic predisposition to clot is serious stuff.

it only takes ONE risk factor for an embolism.

[lph]

I will, I promise! Actually, I don't have to promise 'cos the dr. was going to follow it up for me

Search on the net brought up: something called the Leiden factor, which if inherited from both parents increases the risk of embolisms. 5-10 % have one set of this, 1 in 500 have it from both sides. Seems like they check every woman going on the pill now to see if they have this? I've never been on the pill and I don't think I've had the test. Simple blood test.

cheers right back at ya, with a cup of... oh - lukewarm green tea.

Zen - can you do the test on a stationary bike?

[maillotpois]

Yeah, factor V Leiden. Well, let us know how that turns out. I think that's great that they're testing everyone who goes on the pill for it. They sure as heck are not doing that here. (That wouldn't have specifically helped me, but it sure would help a lot of folks.)

[Blueberry]

Nope - they're not doing that on the East Coast either. I've never been tested (and have been on the pill for 11 years).

CA

[maillotpois]

Something tells me the health care system may be a little better in Norway...

[Blueberry]

Yep - I think so (steering very clear of politics). I will at least *ask* my dr. at my next exam, though.

CA

[Thorn]

Avoiding politics and slightly thread-hijacking...health care does differ between countries and not just because of insurance or government, but because of MD training and preferences. What is considered routine testing will differ, but so does how exams are performed.

For instance, LPH notes that she used a bike for her stress test. I smiled when I read that. Eons ago when worklife was good I worked for a health care device manufacturer. Within the US, stress EKG units were almost universally treadmill; the bike was a European thing. It was rare to find the bike in the US stress testing lab (hmmm...just as it is still rare to find a lot of bikes on the streets in the US).

Ain't it grand, though, that this forum has more than one cultural variation so now ya'll can request the test while being informed enough to say, "but, in Norway it is routine"?

[Zen]

Apparently, bikes are just too futuristic for our health care system. I've told the examiners I could do it on a bike.
Maybe this is my ticket to Norway