Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Echocardiogram

On November 10 I will have an echocardiogram at my neurologist's office. For those who are not familiar, research has shown that many people who have a hole in the heart also suffer from migraines. My mom, who is a nurse, saw this on tv and encouraged me to get a test - an echocardiogram, or ultrasound of the heart.

Two really neat things for which I give God the credit - when I asked my neurologist about the test, I found out that a cardiologist actually comes to their office every Monday and can perform the test! The second absolutely extraordinary thing is that my insurance is actually going to cover the test! Praise God! Although they weren't certain they'd cover it at first, I wrote them a letter explaining how I was born with a functional heart murmur, which could be from a hole in my heart, so that might have helped.

So what happens if they find a hole? I'm trying not to think about that, especially since my aunt was telling me about someone who died from having surgery for a hole in his heart (but his was necessary and not related to migraines) - she told me this without knowing about my test too! But, there are people who have had the surgery and had a reduction in migraines.

I encourage you to read this post from The Daily Headache, a really neat blog that you've probably visited. The comments are particularly interesting.

I'll post my test results next week. Until then, hope you have a headache-free week (starting tomorrow - I mean, how can you NOT have a headache on election day? hehe).