Echocardiogram on Tuesday

Over the last few weeks, I have started to feel much better.

My spirits are up.


(picture taken circa 1980)

I managed to stay out of trouble since my dad has been gone.


(picture taken circa 1996? please note: eyebrow ring)

I have been cooking!!



I am reorganizing my photo collection.


(I am on the left, sitting next to my sister, Anne Marie.)

I have been taking a lot of photos of whatever is around me.


(Dumpster I parked next to on Valentine's Day.)

I try to get out each day on an "outing" of some sort - groceries, dinner, movie, etc.


(Bob White, Betty Francis, me, Susan Demato)

My weight, blood pressure, and heart rate have been stable.

I will be having the first echo-cardiogram since my hospital stay in November on Tuesday, March 17 (St Patricks Day). This test will determine whether the medications I have been taking have improved my heart. I will find out the results of the test on March 24. I am not sure what will happen next...pacemaker? more meds? Will know more soon.


From youtube

normal echo dilated cardiomyopathy


From Wikipedia

An echocardiogram, often referred to in the medical community as a cardiac ECHO or simply an ECHO, is a sonogram of the heart. Also known as a cardiac ultrasound, it uses standard ultrasound techniques to image two-dimensional slices of the heart. The latest ultrasound systems now employ 3D real-time imaging. (click here to see an echocardiogram)

In addition to creating two-dimensional pictures of the cardiovascular system, an echocardiogram can also produce accurate assessment of the velocity of blood and cardiac tissue at any arbitrary point using pulsed or continuous wave Doppler ultrasound. This allows assessment of cardiac valve areas and function, any abnormal communications between the left and right side of the heart, any leaking of blood through the valves (valvular regurgitation), and calculation of the cardiac output as well as the ejection fraction.

I plan to post after my March 24th appointment.