Cleveland Clinic

[lilredmomof4]

I go for my first visit to see Dr.Lever on August 3rd............yay!!!!!

[mandksiders]

Congratulations on getting to an HCM Center of Excellence! I know that you are going to be so happy that you did.

Keep us posted!

Kaye

[bberk1]

I'll also be there on the 3rd with dr. lever. 7:30 check in upto 5 pm for the holter monitor.

[lilredmomof4]

Hey!!! My hubby and I will be leaving S.C. on the 2nd. You wanna meet? There isn't many of us in the same boat so it would be nice to get to know some of you.....let me know and I'll PM ya. We're in the same age group too....hubby is 44 and im almost 32....might have a few things in common. We also have kids....4 in fact!

[lilredmomof4]

It looks like I've got 2 very full days coming....ekg,x-ray,mri,stress echo....on the 4th another echo and holter monitoring. Wow! Got my list of things to do....lol. Um...how long does the mri take? Hate them....small confined places...lol, I can barely catch my breath laying flat as it is. I'm so very excited to get to the bottom of this. 1 week to go......thinking of leaving here early sunday. 10 hour drive.......7 to see sis in cincinnati, catch some zzz's, 3 more puts me in cleveland early Monday morning......whew. I sure hope I can perform.....i've had the worst of my symptoms in the past year.We will see......

[Jall]

If you are claustrophobic, get an Rx for some Xanax or something of the like before you go up to Cleveland. I had my MRI scheduled at 7:00am and they told me no doc would be there at the start of the test, so if I needed something, I had to bring it from home. (I would personally rather have root canal with no novicane than do an MRI because of the confinement issue). And you need to practise some with the Xanax to get the right dose (and insure that you are not in the very small minority where Xanax makes anxiety worse).

jall

[lilredmomof4]

I hear ya Jall....im slightly phobic.......mine isn't until 3:30 and although im not big on pills.....funny huh........ill opt for a valium i think. Um, I can see you don't like MRI's....hahaha! Have a good one!

[LindaSo]

Lilred.........before you take any medication prior to the MRI, have it approved by Dr. Lever's office. Use widom here. You do not want to do anything that will interact with the contrast material that will be administered, nor do you want to take anything that will impact your stress echo. Contact his office in the morning and talk to his nurse and explain of your claustrophobia and let them tell you what you can or cannot take. After finally getting there, you don't want to take something that could put a kink in all of this.

[lilredmomof4]

You are so right....don't worry. I did speak with the office...I do not have a script nor am i on anything at all...spoke with karen all about it. The valium would be upon Dr.Lever to prescribe if I need it......we're supposed to work it out when i get there. Again....please don't worry, after all it took to get here im not about to screw it up. You couldn't pay me to see my GP ever again as it is....considering I was diagnosed with "a lil cardiomyopathy" you're fine,diagnosed with anxiety on my 2nd visit, and told to put my feet up the next time I feel i might pass out(like i've ever had time to do that!)I'm sure not going to give yet another reason for him to think im nuts. Besides....I have another waiting to take over after this trip....he was the first to believe me. You all are so supportive! Thanks for worrying:p

[Bruce42]

The MRI takes like 30, 35 minutes. But it's not one steady shot--it's 3 minutes here, 5 minutes there, with waiting in between. So you get to talk to the tech in between, and they can slide you out and back in if you really can't take it for that long. Take an eye pillow (or make one out of a towel), take deep breaths--you'll make it.

They can play music in the tube, so if you have a favorite chill out/zone out CD, bring it. I don't think they have an iPod hookup or anything, so bring the CD. I didn't know about this in advance, but they had Norah Jones, so I listened to her over and over ....

Also, last time I had one, the room was darn cold, so be vocal about your need for blankets. Good luck!

[lilredmomof4]

LOL.......thanx for warning about needing the blankets Bruce42.......that would've gotten me for sure. I think I'll do ok with the mri.....i can do a half hour and if they ask me to change position even better. I can do it!!!!!!!!!The extremes in temperature have always been hard on me so now im prepared......thanks thanks and thanks again!