Spreadsheet to track echo results??

[Rain]

My heart has ?global? problems that I would like to track on a spread sheet. I?ve had at least ten echos in the last ten years.

I seem to remember us talking about making one here in the forum a long time ago.... but I don?t remember if anyone ever actually did??

If so ... I?d really, really like to borrow the template.

Thanks!!

Here's my email address:

[email protected]

 

[Mary]

Rain,
I believe Al Capshaw keeps a spreadsheet of his echo results. I haven't seen him on for awhile, so you might have to send him a PM.

 

[epstns]

My only frustration with doing that would be that from time to time my cardio's echo tech adds or deletes a measurement from the published report. I am not technically "advanced" enough to handle the fluid dynamic equations to make the conversions from things like velocity of aortic jet to average valve area. So, my spreadsheet would be patchy with some blanks. My accounting mind would freak out at not being able to search for patterns!

Seriously, the spreadsheet itself is nothing more than a computerized columnar pad. Setting it up is the easy part. Deciding which statistics or measurements to list and track is a bit more difficult. Then interpreting trends or changes is where it gets interesting. I thought that was part of what the docs are supposed to do. Oh, yeah, I forgot. I, too, have to occasionally ask a doc a question like "What about this or that. . . ?"

Could be a useful tool. Just be careful not to get crazy over insignificant variations. (Rain, I know that you know your situation well enough not to do that, it is just a caution to the new folks who may decide to start tracking things. . . )

 

[MrP]

Just recently learned from my cardiologist that my echo results (and CT scan results) are stored in memory and automatically compared year to year by software. Of course this is the advantage of using the same cardiologist each year. You may want to ask your cardiologist about this... and also ask about printed year-to-year comparison results. Good luck.

 

[Rain]

Thanks!

Thanks!

Thanks Mary... I think I do remember Al being involved in that conversation. I’ll send him an email and ask him about it.

Good point Steve. Actually I tried to do a comparison like you said a while back, but there were a lot of holes in it..... for those very reasons!! But a lot of it you can figure out. It gets frustrating and takes some research... and still I may not know what I’m talking about!! lol So maybe parts of it are a waste of time. But going to the same place, same cardio every time makes it easier. I just like tracking it. What I did is very basic... I thought maybe someone had come up with a better way of doing it.

Wow, Preston! Why didn’t I think of that? I bet he does. I always get a copy of the echo and the report. But I’ve never seen anything that made me think he had anything else... course I never thought of it! ... but it’s probably one of those deals where you have to ask specifically for it to get it. There is always the comparison of the last one to the current one on the report.. But that’s it. He did just buy his own echo machine for his office about four years ago, and I've been having them done there... soooooooo I'm thinking he may be doing that!

I’m gonna call his office and ask them.

Thanks!

 

[ALCapshaw2]

YES ! YES! YES! ... DO IT Rain

Actually, mine was done on paper Data Sheet with lots of boxes in rows and columns. Some technicians / doctors use different parameters and there will just have to be discontinuities where data is missing. You can STILL look for TRENDS which is something many Doctor's seem NOT to do (vs. engineers who use trend analysis to maintain and/or improve quality control).

Just list ALL the different test parameters you have ever had (vertically) and list the dates horizontally.

My cardio was giving me the old "it's not so bad" song and dance about my mitral valve area and how that number is actually a calculated result that could have a fair amount of variation, yada yada yada.

Then I pulled out my spread sheet and showed him how the annual echo result went from 2.5 to 2.0 to 1.5 in three consecutive years. "That's disconcerting" was his response, along with a referal to the surgeon who impressed me with his demeanor and the respect he showed and received as I listened to him make rounds while in the ICU for my AVR. That surgeon was the first MD I've met who seemed to really KNOW and UNDERSTAND the effects of radiation damage.

Putting your spread sheet on a computer (M.S. EXCEL for example) makes it MUCH easier to edit and modify.

YOU CAN DO IT, Rain.
Hope it helps.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[epstns]

Al, I'll have to agree with you there (and as we know, you and I have sometimes differed in opinion <g>). I've been tracking trends in my own health measures since I was first diagnosed. I have several years of history on echo's and also blood pressure and weight. These have proven "interesting" to my cardio. They have also affected my treatment plan, and THAT has greatly improved my peace of mind while I'm waiting.

 

[Rain]

Thank you, Al! I?m gonna go for it!!

Thank you, Al! I?m gonna go for it!!

l laughed out loud when I read your cardios response... “that’s disconcerting”. OKAY...

I think mostly doctors are really good... I just love my cardio. But after what I've been through with some of them... I just like to feel a little more in the know.

 

[aussigal]

I like the way you think Rain!...

I too was feeling a bit naughty or guilty or something about keeping an eye on my Cardio...but since gaining some much needed knowledge into my valve problem I feel much more at ease with my treatment...before I was anxious and uncertain...

Now that I know he is on the same page as me, I am a much happier camper in the waiting-room