Guest allan Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 I go in for an ultrsound of the aorta next week. They found something they want to get a better look at they said, during a chest xray. Is an ultrasound the best test? Wouldn't an MRI be better? Thanks for any replies......Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HadIt.com Elder Pete53 Posted January 28, 2007 HadIt.com Elder Share Posted January 28, 2007 Allan: Ultrasound is painless and will give them a good look at your heart. Its also a lot cheaper. This test may have helped me get the care I needed to save my life. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest allan Posted January 28, 2007 Share Posted January 28, 2007 Thanks Pete, One thing i've been trying to get them to look at over the yrs, is this stomach muscle that I thought was herniated. Had several comment, "that will heal on it's own", it's not service connected, etc. Turns out, it may be an aortic anurysm that been growing for sometime. I'll find out for sure with this ultrasound maybe. I'm in quite a bind financally. Will they charge me for it?. I'm 30% service connected for tinnitis & a urinary condition. They used to grant NSC-Pension, but stopped it when I recieved back pay from my SSDI award some yrs ago. There was an overpayment that had to be payed back for several months. But they never started it up again. I keep sending them those once a yr income statements, so maybe my income is to high for Pension. Anyway, it would be good to know before I get this, if i'll be billed for it later, or they will just take it out of the 30% award like they did with the overpayment from my SSDI award. Does this make any since? I hope so. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan n Pam Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 Allen First - I am not a doctor and I have never worked in the medical field - but we have had our share of exposure over the years - that is my disclaimer :) I would think that if you had an aortic anurysm it would not feel like a hernia - actually an aortic anurysm doesn't feel like anything - it just is there A lot of folks don't know they have this problem until it's too late or until they are discovered while doing testing for other problems. As far as I know - The best test for this is the procedure that they do for the heart cath. It shows most everything. We have been thru this many times - In 85 Stan had his first open heart bypass, 35 years old. Since then he has had numerous heart caths and several stints put in. He had his second bypass about 10 years later. Then in 2000 during a rather routine cath to check out circulation in his legs (he was having pain in them) it was discovered that he needed kidney stints. Well when he went back to have the stints put in a few days later, he was on the table and told the Dr that since he was already in there he might as well take a look at the heart, the Dr said that was not a normal procedure - but by this time Stan and Dr Schwartz were pretty in tune to each other and Dr asked Stan if he thougt he could handle it (they use the same entrance in the groin but they thread the scope to the heart instead of the kidney or legs) Stan said sure so they proceeded. By the way - the patient is conscience through out the cath, because they have to talk to you and ask you questions along the way - but let me tell you that they give pain medication and lots of valium so it's not a scary or hurtful procedure - so don't stress if you ever have to have one. Anyway they did the cath and that is when they found the anurysm on his aorta. It was huge and the Dr said he was a walking time bomb. He had the surgery and is fine today. So what I am saying here is......it really doesn't matter how you pay the bill or where they take the money from - if you have an aortic anurysm and the doctors tell you that surgery is needed - get a second opinion and then have the surgery. Our medical bills have been tremendous over the years - in fact I don't even open them anymore - I just have a basket (a big basket) that I toss them in. We are very fortunate that we do have insurance that we got to keep when the Post Office medically retired Stan '83. Unfortunately our co-pays can easily be $10,000 in some years. Bottom Line, Allen - don't mess around with this - it's a biggie. p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest allan Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 Thanks Stan n Pam, During a series of xrays for the spine & chest, I could see a large white area. Heard them say they wanted to blow that area up. A few days later they sent an appointment for an ultrasound of the aorta. When we called, they said there was something on the aorta that showed up on the xray & they want a closer look at it. The buldge stands out pretty good when im laying down & try to sit up. What I saw on the xray was, Tinnis ball size or better. That was on Jan 4th. I go again on Friday for the ultrasound. It's fairly painful around the area. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazona Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 Oh, Allan! Don't mess around if it's that big!!! I don't want to scare you but that thing can burst and you could be dead, immediately. I'm lucky that mine is only 4 cm. and hasn't increased in size for years. My private Dr, caught it in a cat scan when he was looking for something else. Turns out the the VA knew it was there but neglected to tell me. Yes, an ultrasound will show it but a catscan shows it much better. I don't have any pain, just feel something there. Please don't put this off! jaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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