Tee

[Elpidio]

Hi folks. Today I went in for a CT scan of my chest tomorrow I was scheduled for my TEE but the nurse
called and said my DR said it wouldn't be necessary so they cancelled it. I guess I'm relieved I was kind of worrried about it after some of the stuff I had read here. I'm still kind of wondering though.......what gives? Has anyone here not needed one before surgery? I've had a echo, thalium stress test, chest xray and now the CT. Next week I go in for a doplar xray of my neck (I think that's what they call it).

 

[Superbob]

I didn't have a TEE even though had pretty heavy-duty surgery. Had echos and a cath. I'd never even heard of a TEE until read about it here. Not sure when it's necessary. Sounds like it's a good diagnostic tool in some cases but obviously not always needed.

 

[aussigal]

Same here as RobHol...
I did have a few TEE's after my surgery though while I was in hospital.
It may not give them any other useful info that they dont already have from other testing.
If I remember correctly the last test I had before surgery was an Angio.

If you are still concerned why not just ask them howcome they changed their mind. They always seem to finish each appointment saying "any questions?"

Sounds like you are just about ready for your big day...

 

[RandyL]

No TEE hee.
Stress Test
Echo
Cath
Thats it

 

[Ross]

They've probably got enough information to make the surgical assessment, so it renders further testing a waste. You will have one during surgery anyhow. That's how the Surgeon makes sure everything is sealed up good before putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.

 

[mntbiker]

I didn't have a TEE or cath prior to the surgery. Just an echo and CT scan. I did have a TEE about a year before the surgery.

In surgery he evaluated my valve and so forth with a TEE prior to opening the hood.

 

[Christine]

guess I was a little different.. but mine was more of an emergency situation.. I had the EKG first at GP's office, which finally figured something in my heart wasn't right (vrs allergies as i was told for months) then once at cardio, had echo, admitted me for further tests, first one being TEE... had to wait a week for "infection" to clear (bacterial endocarditis) before doing the cath, then surgery very next morning..

if your DR feel not necessary at this time, then I would wait until they feel it is.. it's just another, more detailed way of measuring, if after doing a echo, they want a more detailed diagnostic, then the TEE is usually the next step..

Chris

 

[inlaguna]

No Tee here either. I had an MRI ( with contrast....in the tube for 2 hours) and echos. TEE was done on the table.


Dan

 

[Karlynn]

I didn't have a TEE prior to surgery, but they used a TEE in the OR prior to opening me up. I wasn't awake for that.

 

[Gnusgal]

I wasn't supposed to have a TEE prior to surgery, but on the day of surgery my surgeon decided he didn't feel comfortable doing the surgery based on just the data he had so far (conflicting info, apparently). So instead of having surgery that day I had a TEE (he wanted an MRI, but I couldn't because of my pacer). That's the first TEE I ever had. I've had 2 since then, though.

 

[KMS]

No prior TEE

No prior TEE

No TEE prior to surgery for me. Like Bob, I actually learned about the TEE from this site. Leading up to my surgery I had a couple of echos, a CT scan and an MRI with contrast (they cancelled my stress echo after they got the results from those tests). The day before my surgery I had a cath.

I guess they had all they needed without the TEE prior to surgery.

Kristine

 

[debster913]

I've had two TEEs: One in April 2005, when my cardio didn't like what he saw on my echo from the prevous November (he said after that TEE that I wouldn't need surgery for a long time, and then 12 months later...)

The next one I had was this past May 1. Once I started showing symptoms of valve failure this past April, my cardio did a stress echo (but I didn't go on the treadmill because he was afraid I'd have a heart attack, my valve looked that bad), then a heart cath (at the surgeon's office request); and because the cath results showed moderate leakage, my cardio decided to do another TEE. As opposed to the April '05 TEE, I remembered the whole experience this time around. It wasn't that bad as I was nicely stoned. My cardio did all this because he wanted to be sure it was my valve and not something else causing my symptoms. I even had a pulmonary function test to rule out asthma.

I guess it's up to your cardio, but the TEE really isn't that bad (although the stuff they give you to numb your throat tastes like rotten bananas).

Good luck to you--
Debi (debster913)