Quick question—EKG vs echocardiogram before starting chemo

Roo73

Hi, I was wondering whether anyone would be able to weigh in on this one before I pester the hospital…

I am supposed to start a course of taxol + herceptin next Tuesday morning. They ordered a CT scan and—I thought—an echocardiogram. I wrote everything down and the clinic called the day before to confirm. But when I went for the heart scan, they just did an EKG and sent me on my way. I was surprised but thought, OK, I guess I confused the two.

Now I'm thinking it might have been them who got it wrong. Does just an EKG sound right? Isn't an echocardiogram the usual test?

It's going to be tricky for me to call them tomorrow (Friday) as I am travelling (ugh) to a funeral (double ugh) with a bunch of people who do not yet know I have cancer (triple ugh). But I've rearranged my entire schedule to clear next Tuesday and I SO want to get going with this. I don't want to risk showing up and getting sent away.

Does it sound to you like they made a mistake? If so I will bite the bullet and try to call them tomorrow.

Thanks so much to everyone who takes the time to help us newbies on these boards. I would never even know to ASK this question if it was not for you all.

Spookiesmom

When I told my cardiologist they did a MUGA, he snorted and said why didn’t they just do an echo.

I had the red devil, it’s hard on the heart. I don’t know anything about what you will be doing. I think I’d call.

ShetlandPony

Roo, I think you are probably right, that your oncologist wanted an echocardiogram. Regular echo or MUGA is standard during herceptin treatment. In my case, I believe I ended up having my first echo after my first herceptin infusion rather than before, and my onc was ok with that. I have no history of heart problems. But I would try to contact your onc before Tuesday so you know you won't be turned away. Can you email?

Roo73

Thank you Shetland & Spookiesmom, that's decided me.

They seem to prefer the phone, which is massively annoying as I am a lecturer and often teaching during the day.

But I think I have figured out that the person who actually keeps the oncs (all guys) in line is the head nurse, and I have a direct line for her :-)

Thank you again, I feel better about calling them.

gamzu710

I just started Taxol + Herceptin last week and I think you are right that you were supposed to have an echocardiogram. That is what I had a couple weeks ago. The tech did put some EKG leads on my chest at one point, I think to correlate the visual of my heart with the electrical signal of its beat, but most of it was ultrasound. The number my oncologist was interested was my ejection fraction, and an EKG is not going to tell you that.

ShetlandPony

Roo, that's how it is for me. When I need something ordered or a problem solved, I call my amazing onc nurse or my trial nurse. That's it, gamzu: left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).

Anonymous

yes, with Herceptin it's definitely an echocardiogram that you need.

Roo73

Thanks so much to everyone who responded! I just phoned and left a message for the nurse. When they started the test I thought maybe they were just going to start with an EKG and then go on. I've never had an echocardiogram, so I figured it was me who was confused, and I didn't speak up.

Many lessons learned on this one!!

Thanks again, wish me luck for the chemo.

Spookiesmom

An echocardiogram is like an ultrasound, same type wand used, except on heart. Messy, but non invasive and painless. They use a LOT of gel so it slides ea

ShetlandPony

Except if you don’t have much natural padding, it can hurt if the tech presses hard on the wand. I’ve learned to speak up.

Cowgirl13

Definitely a echo or a muga. I don't think that an EKG will give as much as an echo or a muga scan. Would like to know about this.