Just wondering what to expect for this procedure I'm having it done in a few months. Just had my echo done this week and it is still about the same -moderate to severe stenosis with moderate regurgitation. We want to have another baby so he is thinking I will have to have the replacement surgery beforehand but is checking it more closely with this test.. Has anyone had different results with this compared to the echo? Like maybe the valve wasn't as narrow as they thought?
Anyone had a TEE?
- Thread starter Tiger
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Heart Of The Sunrise
Well-known member
I was stressed out about having a TEE done.. It was a piece of cake. Heavily sedated do not remember much about it.
Jkm7
Well-known member
Same for me. I stressed about it and didn't know what to expect.
It was really easy for me, no pain during and no pain or after effects at all. I wasted too much energy worrying about it in a advance.
My TEE showed my doctors just about what they expected to find.
It was really easy for me, no pain during and no pain or after effects at all. I wasted too much energy worrying about it in a advance.
My TEE showed my doctors just about what they expected to find.
Agian
Well-known member
Piece of cake. Nothing to worry about.
ski girl
Well-known member
Agree - I've had several and don't remember a thing, they knock you out. I had a severe bacterial infection and the TEE allowed them to see that it was on the valve (requiring an AVR redo) - they couldn't see the valve well enough with the standard echo.
Tiger, the TEE is more accurate than the trans-thoracic echo. They will be better able to visualize your valves and their performance. That said, the results can go either way. They may find that it is not as bad as the standard echo shows, or it may be worse. I don't mean to scare you, just to prepare you for the fact that the TEE is a different procedure, and is felt to be more revealing than the standard echo. The best test right now is the angiogram (heart cath) - but that is a much more invasive test that they reserve for times when they are either very concerned or are preparing for surgery.
I also feared the TEE. It was not a big deal. Just tell them your fears and ask for lots of the numbing stuff for your throat (tastes terrible, feels good), and tell them how heavily you do or do not want to be sedated. I was semi awake during my TEE a couple of days after surgery, but it wasn't a problem.
I also feared the TEE. It was not a big deal. Just tell them your fears and ask for lots of the numbing stuff for your throat (tastes terrible, feels good), and tell them how heavily you do or do not want to be sedated. I was semi awake during my TEE a couple of days after surgery, but it wasn't a problem.
Thanks for the replies! Did you all get your results right afterward? I'm anxious to know the results so we can get things going if I do have to have the surgery soon. Even though I'm scared to death to have open heart surgery I also really want to have one or two more babies soonish- so they are close in age...how long was the process of when your doctor said you needed the surgery to when you actually ended up having it?
AgilityDog
Well-known member
You can get the results pretty quickly, but since they usually give you versed as a sedative, you won't remember a lot of the details!
Except I do remember I did not get enough nasty numbing agent (for the second TEE) and it was an unpleasant procedure, since I was only partially sedated. The first one I was doped up and OUT.
Except I do remember I did not get enough nasty numbing agent (for the second TEE) and it was an unpleasant procedure, since I was only partially sedated. The first one I was doped up and OUT.
LouLou
Member
Hi Tiger. I just had a TEE on Tuesday. It was the third one I have had over the years. The worse part is the stuff they spray in your throat - nasty. Don't really remember much after that. No worries and you should get the results right away. Just have someone else get the information b/c you may not remember much. My results were not good - Need surgery #2 soon. We are scheduling a Cath in the next month and I am not looking forward to that. I have had one before but it was a long time ago. Good Luck - I hope you get some good news!
Gail in Ca
Well-known member
I've had 3 TEE's, just be sure to tell the doc that you would rather be less awake.
Just ASK
Well-known member
My TEE was a walk in the park as well...that Versed makes everything AOK. It is nothing to be afraid of, simply looking at your heart from front row seats instead of the cheap seats.
Classtime Sailer
Active member
Compared with everything else we put up with? No big deal. They didn't put me out but I can't remember why. After my first OHS, I was conscious for 45 minutes of a breathing tube. That was fun. The TEE prior to my second OHS was nothing. Breath. Relax..
Jkm7
Well-known member
I was told the results immediately following my TEE. My cardiologist spoke with me but I was still a bit foggy from the versed (sp ?) so he made sure later that I had understood what he told me.
I really stressed in advance of the TEE and it was so easy for me. I had no pain or discomfort during it and no after effects. Next morning I was permitted to go about my usual activities including driving and had no difficulty doing so.
Julian
Well-known member
Everyone's experience with a TEE is different. Most will have a "forgettable" experience LOL! My experience however was not forgettable or pleasant. I remember everything choking on the probe while I was tearing up like a school girl. At one point the cardiologist told the nurse give him more versed he's a big guy. Truth is I'm 5' 11" 185 pounds actually not very big.
Anyway I was very symptomatic at the time basically short of breath while at rest, I felt like crap. I truly found out how tough I was just recently, I'm now fit as a fiddle and feel pretty damn good. Hard to believe a few years ago I was sitting in my cubicle at work everyday wondering while I feel so out of breath and weak. Basically I was feeling that way for several years but figured I was being a big baby. Turns out I'm one tough dude with a serious work ethic. Even to near death.
Get the TEE over with, get the surgery done and get back to life ASAP, my recovery after surgery took 18 months.
Anyway I was very symptomatic at the time basically short of breath while at rest, I felt like crap. I truly found out how tough I was just recently, I'm now fit as a fiddle and feel pretty damn good. Hard to believe a few years ago I was sitting in my cubicle at work everyday wondering while I feel so out of breath and weak. Basically I was feeling that way for several years but figured I was being a big baby. Turns out I'm one tough dude with a serious work ethic. Even to near death.
Get the TEE over with, get the surgery done and get back to life ASAP, my recovery after surgery took 18 months.
a4wanman
Well-known member
Before I had my TEE, my wife told me about an Oprah show where a small camera the size of a big pill was swallowed to check out the digestive tract. During my TEE, they sprayed some foam that tasted like cigarette butts to deaden my throat. Also, some other deadening medicine was swabbed much like a throat culture that caused my to gag. I was given Versed and was told it would make me groggy. Lies - all lies. I guess they didn't give me enough. I was completely awake and almost aware of what was happening. I say "almost aware" because they hid the probe before insertion. The guy doing the TEE said he would count to 3 and to swallow on 3 to get the probe down. I wasn't aware of 2 things: 1) the probe being jammed down around 2 1/2 - he didn't get to 3 and 2) the hose pipe that's connected to the probe.
Even though near the end I could feel the probe moving in the middle of my chest, I was never in pain. Nothing to worry about really. I was just caught offguard with what was going on.
Few things to sum it up:
1) check out this video on youtube. The probe is shown around 1:18. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Us9mXXILSk&feature=related
2) You have to read the great Southerner Lewis Grizzard's book "They Tore Out My Heart and Stomped That Sucker Flat". It's his experience with valve replacement surgery and events leading up to the surgery. He also describes the TEE procedure.
3) I don't think anyone should be allowed perform a TEE or other diagnostic tests - CT, Echo, stress test, etc. without having been through the procedure. That would give the person performing the procedure more credence when they try to describe what will happen.
Even though near the end I could feel the probe moving in the middle of my chest, I was never in pain. Nothing to worry about really. I was just caught offguard with what was going on.
Few things to sum it up:
1) check out this video on youtube. The probe is shown around 1:18. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Us9mXXILSk&feature=related
2) You have to read the great Southerner Lewis Grizzard's book "They Tore Out My Heart and Stomped That Sucker Flat". It's his experience with valve replacement surgery and events leading up to the surgery. He also describes the TEE procedure.
3) I don't think anyone should be allowed perform a TEE or other diagnostic tests - CT, Echo, stress test, etc. without having been through the procedure. That would give the person performing the procedure more credence when they try to describe what will happen.
T in YVR
Well-known member
The TEE was definitely a piece of cake. I have had 1 done. Just make sure they knock you out pretty heavily. Being remotely awake for it would not be nice. They gave me the perfect amount of sedative - I awoke just as they were finishing up and had the probe out. My Cardiologist performed the test which was beneficial. He told me the results right away. I then went to his office and picked up the actual report 2 days later.
To clarify one earlier point that was made: the TEE vs. Echo vs. CT etc - they are all very different tests and measure analyze different aspects of your condition. For example, the Echo is the best test for measuring ventricle size among other things obviously. The TEE is the best test for viewing/measuring regurgitation (which I have) among other things. It did confirm, and provide greater detail on what my echo showed in terms of the aortic valve regurg, but the TEE won't really tell you if your left ventricle is dilated and by how much, for example. One does not replace the other and one is not necessarily better than the other in a general sense. They all have strengths and weaknesses - but the combined sets of tests help provide a more complete picture. On the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo web sites there are pages that talk about the TEE and what to expect.
Tony
To clarify one earlier point that was made: the TEE vs. Echo vs. CT etc - they are all very different tests and measure analyze different aspects of your condition. For example, the Echo is the best test for measuring ventricle size among other things obviously. The TEE is the best test for viewing/measuring regurgitation (which I have) among other things. It did confirm, and provide greater detail on what my echo showed in terms of the aortic valve regurg, but the TEE won't really tell you if your left ventricle is dilated and by how much, for example. One does not replace the other and one is not necessarily better than the other in a general sense. They all have strengths and weaknesses - but the combined sets of tests help provide a more complete picture. On the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo web sites there are pages that talk about the TEE and what to expect.
Tony
Kitty
Member
I had one done whilst pregnant so had almost no sedation. I completely freaked myself out before hand more due to the reasons they were doing it than the precedure itself (my cardiologist say something on an echo that he thought was life threatening so off to hospital we went) but with the throat numbing stuff all it was was a little uncomfortable.
