Echocardiogram image (not mine!)

Dear Readers, there is no diagnostic medical test more relaxing than an echocardiogram (unless you include any anxiety about the potential result). There is something strangely intimate about being in a darkened room while someone presses an ultrasound recorder against your breastbone. All is silent except for the occasional ‘whump, whump, whump’ of your own heart. Every so often you have to breathe in and hold your breath, and then let it out, and then repeat all over again. It’s slightly less relaxing if the technician forgets to tell you that you can breathe out. Not that that would ever happen.

I had an echocardiogram over a year ago, and at that point I was diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve (you can read all about it here and here, should you want to explore the history). Interestingly, this time the technician wasn’t so sure that it was bicuspid, but he did say that there was moderate calcification of the valve which also doesn’t sound like a barrel of laughs, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. In theory I should have an appointment with my cardiologist now that my 24-hour blood pressure test and the echocardiogram have been completed, but I have a gut feeling that I will have to chase it. Whilst the orthopaedic department at the Whittington has been completely on the ball (mainly because I was admitted as an emergency), cardiology has been slower, probably because resources are limited and there are people in a much worse state than me. Should we be waiting until I also get into a state, though? Not very economically sensible, and not very pleasant for the patient, for sure. I intend to be a moderately impatient patient, rather than an in-patient wherever possible.

And next week is the first week in forever when I don’t have any medical appointments. Hallelujah! Instead, I am hoping to take myself off to my pilates studio, which I’ve been attending for fifteen years, to gently start getting myself moving again. The teacher there knows me well, and I will take some photos of my fracture and my lovely new metal leg so he can see what’s been going on. Tomorrow I will be braving East Finchley Station with its terrifying Stairs of Doom for the first time since the accident for a ‘trial run’ to Angel Station, and if all goes well I may reward myself with my first trip to a bookshop for three months. Wish me luck!