I called my cardiologist today. Told him the story. His immediate response was “when would you like to come in”. Most cardiologists can do the test in their office.
So sorry @MichaelNKat, that’s tough.
H just had a carotid ultrasound done in December. Everything was great! He has a cardiologist who ordered it.
My cardiologist has my carotid checked by ultrasound when I go in for my echo every six months, but I haven’t had an abdominal U/S. Will have to ask about that next visit. I had asked her at one point how we would know (short of another major event) if my carotid had the same problems as my LAD.
So sorry about your friend @mnk.
Thank you for the information.
MNK, so sorry. Thank you for the warning!
Thanks MnK for posting about this.
Oh, Michael, I’m so sorry! How tragic and sudden. Would a stress echo detect the same thing? I had that done a couple of years ago.
3 miles at the hotel fitness center. Wanted to do more but apparently I got there just before the rush and there were people waiting. I didn’t want to push it and risk upseting a salty hotel guest. 
Does anyone know if both ultrasound procedures are considered part of an annual physical and is it usually a cardiologist that performs or can a family practitioner perform? Just thinking of insurance issues.
But many of us might not have cardiologists, so how to request we get it done? And we don’t go to cardiologists for routine physicals.
You find one- or get a referral. When I decided to get the stress echo a couple of years ago after some serious runner friends came up with heart issues, I asked around and got a great cardiologist. All covered by insurance.
I actually have been to a cardiologist, just trying to figure out specifically what to ask for. A stress Echo or abdominal ultrasound or a carotid ultrasound? Or is that all the same thing? What exactly, for the uninformed here!
Michael- can you answer? I never heard of the abdominal test before.
Here’s my understanding. I routinely get stress echos. A stress echo won’t pick it up because of the region being looked at and the angle of the views. The stress echo looks at the valve functions in the heart, the size and function of the heart muscle and the flow of blood from chamber to chamber. While a small portion of the coronary blood vessels may be seen, I think it’s too close to the insertion points in the heart or at the wrong angle to see enough of the vessels. The ultrasound you need is an abdominal aorta ultrasound. The carotid ultrasound looks at the major arteries in the neck that supply blood to the brain. It’s purpose is to look for potential blockages, blood vessel deformities etc that could present a risk of a stroke or brain aneurysm. Maybe there’s a medical practitioner lurking about who could comment further?
Thank you MicharlNKat! Wonder why they don’t do this routinely.
I’m so sorry about your friend, Michael. A few years ago, a local coach in our area experienced an aortic dissection while coaching - miraculously he survived. So much can go wrong with our bodies - I wouldn’t even think to ask for these types of tests.
Still very icy conditions around here - I am not brave enough to run in the dark when my vision is not the best to begin with. Yesterday spent some time on the elliptical and went to Reformer with a new instructor, which I enjoyed, but did not find very challenging. Better to be not challenged enough than too challenged though, I think! 5 miles on the treadmill this morning, definitely not at Ohio’s pace.
Looking forward to your return to marathons, MOWC.
It would be interesting to track the journey of other tests (which might have been seen as unnecessarily expensive but provided valuable screening) like pap smears, colonoscopies, mammograms. I’m sure at one point years ago these were not routinely ordered.
Made it out this morning for 7 miles in positively balmy 25 degree weather, with no wind. I need to get a balaclava (hard for me to breathe the cold air in). I tried using one of the kids gaiters from skiing days (in colorful camo!) but it didn’t stay up over my nose and mouth.
3.4 miles done on the great rec path here. Still fairly windy, but not gale force.
Meant to ask earlier re: the wireless headphones you mentioned, MOWC – how is the sound quality? I went through lots of headphones a while back, trying to find something that stayed in my ears when running. The Yurbuds that are guaranteed to say in? Nope, they fell out as soon as I started sweating. For the past couple of years I’ve been using these Stennheiser ones: https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-CX-685-Adidas-Headphones/dp/B0094R4POC/ref=sr_1_1?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1484059796&sr=1-1&keywords=sennheiser+adidas They stay put, which is great, but when I first got them and used them with my iPod (an older model), the sound quality was terrible. Then I changed some of the sound settings on the iPod, and things improved. Now I mostly listen to podcasts, and they’re fine with that, too.
@Classof2015 …I just wrap a scarf around my face when it is really cold aroud here. I wear a hat, sunglasses so my lashes don’t freeze and my eyes don’t water and then wrap the scarf over the lower half of my face. This happens only when it is well below zero or we have really low wind chill temps. I look pretty silly as you can’t see any of my face but I am ok just getting out and moving. Good luck!
Thank you NorthMinnesota! If anyone knows about running in cold weather, it’s you! I will try the scarf idea. Appreciate it!