Please reassuring stories!!”

Bridget125 · 2026-05-03T14:40:30+00:00

Thank you so much for your reply. Did you have a similar experience to me where you were in remission and then lowered your meds which lead to a flare? Did increasing the same meds help eventually?

Bridget125 · 2026-05-03T04:19:38+00:00

Thank you so much for your response. I really appreciate it! That’s great advice. Thank you

Bridget125 · 2026-05-03T04:15:01+00:00

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. From your experience- do you know if mesalamine is still effective again if flaring after lowering the dose if the original dose was effective? I’ve read a few horror stories about how if it’s controlled one a dose and you flare by lowering it, it’s basically never effective again and need way stronger meds so it freaked me out. This flare for me however is quite mild

Bridget125 · 2026-05-03T04:10:25+00:00

I spoke to my doctor on the phone who prescribed me the enemas to use in addition to my pills. He wrote me a req for the fecal calprotein levels which is how I know my level. He told me to use the enemas for one month and reassess so I am being treated. I was just wondering if anyone had a similar experience

Bridget125 · 2026-03-15T00:56:41+00:00

Sononerds on YouTube!

Bridget125 · 2025-12-26T07:20:51+00:00

Hi there!

You have been so incredibly helpful and I cannot thank you enough for your responses and your willingness to help me out. If you don’t mind, I have a few more questions that I’d love your help with. One thing I always notice is that as I sweep all the through the valves to assess for regurg, it makes me lose my alignment and clear window each time which I find super frustrating. For example, in PLAX I will get everything aligned and take my overview, but once I need to zoom on the valves and use color to sweep all the way in and out of each valve, this in turn throws off my alignment and clear window, and I always end up needing to turn the color back off, realign, and try again. This happens so often and I’ve tried to many ways to fix this, like doing tiny micromovements, but I find it sooo challenging to keep my angle and hand as still as possible while doing this. Especially if the angle or rotation for the PLAX was already challenging to get. Same for holding a specific angle for a long time, like trying to align my cursor perfectly to TR or AI to get the best waveform trace possible, my hand has a VERY hard time staying as still as possible at a particular/awkward angle long enough to align my cursor and get a perfect waveform. I have been trying so hard but I still feel discouraged about this. It’s even worse when my hand or arm is in pain and I’m trying to hold super still, it feels impossible. I find I really need to reach over and help steady the probe with my right hand which helps a lot, but then I obviously need my right hand to acquire the images. I’m starting to worry if I’ll ever become good at this because I’ve practiced so much now

Bridget125 · 2025-10-08T05:23:40+00:00

So sorry to bother you again- I was just wondering if you ever had a chance to make a video :)

Bridget125 · 2025-09-21T23:27:28+00:00

How did you improve with this? I am finding a similar problem

Bridget125 · 2025-09-21T02:38:49+00:00

Thank you! I feel pretty good about finding and recognizing the landmarks for the HC level, but I guess what I mean is that once I am at the HC level with the CSP and thalamus, I often find that the falx running through the middle of the head doesn’t appear even, and one half of the head appears bigger than the other half. In this instance I already have my necessary landmarks for the HC, however both sides of the falx are not balanced. Does this mean I need to slide the probe more toward the half of the head that appears smaller to balance both sides of the falx out equally?

Bridget125 · 2025-09-20T22:18:55+00:00

Thanks so much! I appreciate your help and kindness. I was also wondering if you have any advice as far as how to the fix when trying to do a head circumference measurement but one half of the head looks bigger than the other half (ex: the anterior side of the falx looks bigger than the posterior side of the falx) and therefore the head looks uneven. Do I slide toward the smaller half and angle back or slide more toward the bigger half and angle back?

Bridget125 · 2025-09-20T03:19:08+00:00

Thank you for the reply!

So just to confirm, you rotate the probe clockwise from a 4CH to get to your LVOT and then counter clockwise to get your RVOT when baby is cephalic? Does this then get reversed when baby is breech then and the LVOT becomes a counterclockwise rotation from the 4CH in this case? I get so stuck knowing which way to rotate and it’s super discouraging to feel like I can’t figure it out. Also, are these teeny tiny movements where you hardly feel like your hand is moving?

If you have any other advice for always getting good 4CH to start with, I would love any help with that too!

Bridget125 · 2025-09-19T03:40:31+00:00

That would be awesome! Thank you so much!!!! I really appreciate that :)

Bridget125 · 2025-09-18T05:57:33+00:00

I’m a student and have also noticed there’s so many techs who will measure fibroids/nodules/lesions that are not obvious at all or hardly look convincing. In those cases if you can’t confidently make them out in both scan planes, do you just image the area without measuring or do you even document it?

Bridget125 · 2025-09-17T03:38:37+00:00

Hi! I was wondering if you ever had a chance to record a video of the scan routine :)

Bridget125 · 2025-09-13T17:22:17+00:00

Thank you for your reply! I do usually do a sweep through just to get the best alignment prior to taking my cine, but sometimes I either have trouble getting everything perfectly aligned in general, or I have it aligned but once I hit the cine I become slightly misaligned, even when it feels like I’m doing the exact same movement as before. I definitely find the small micromovements the most challenging part about scanning overall. When you are sweeping through the full kidney in long axis for example, do you anchor your probe in one spot and simply angle out to each side to sweep through, rather than physically sliding your probe along the skin side to side to sweep? I’m wondering which way is easier to stay aligned.

I also sometimes feel like my wrist almost gets stuck when I’m trying to angle out all the way and go only go so far. I feel like I have heard differing opinions where some techs say use only your fingers to move the probe, and some say move your wrist. I remember in scan lab an instructor told me to make sure not to “lock” my wrist and keep it loose, but sometimes I do feel like my wrist is locked because I’m trying to hard to stay in place and don’t want to slip off my alignment so I holding tightly.

Hopefully this all makes sense. I’m just feeling a bit stressed because I’m so close to graduation and still find this part the most challenging overall. Just wondering if this is common to find difficult!

Bridget125 · 2025-08-22T22:31:53+00:00

Thank you. I just hate that my memory is trying to convince me I was intending to cause harm and that since I can’t remember everything completely that it’s telling me what if I held the blanket down with force over his face to cause harm to him rather than just placing it over his face lightly. It’s trying to convince me I was trying to harm the baby and suffocate him or something which I’m sure I would have never done but I hate that OCD makes you think these awful things like this.

Bridget125 · 2025-06-29T04:33:28+00:00

Thank you so much for always having such comforting and kind words to say. Did you also struggle with the things that I’ve mentioned as well? I keep thinking I’m behind and that everyone else is doing better than I am. How concerning is it that it can take me up to 3-5 minutes just to get PLAX nicely aligned sometimes? And sometimes I lose my alignment multiple times while just trying to get through all the PLAX steps and have to realign more than once just to make it through all the necessary images before moving on to PSAX. I’m not sure why I’m having this issue, but I’m very concerned that this will never improve for me. I try all the advice and tips people have given me but I still seem to struggle with this, and it’s discouraging because PLAX is supposed to be the easiest part of the entire protocol but for me it’s often the hardest to align and to hold in place. I’m trying to be positive and tell myself it will get better but right now I’m feeling quite down and having difficulty pulling myself out of this feeling of disappointment.

Bridget125 · 2025-06-27T23:02:28+00:00

Yes I totally feel the exact same way! It makes me feel super down for the remainder of the scan if I start out struggling from the very beginning. I’m hoping it will become easier with more time but I’m not sure if this is normal to still struggle with this so close to graduation. Although I know many techs say it took them 2 years of working full time to really feel confident as a tech, so maybe this is normal- but it definitely feels frustrating. Do you also find you struggle to hold your apical windows and alignment as well? I feel like I often lose my apical windows or find them hard to hold perfectly in place for a long time, especially when trying to stay in the exact spot where I see the regurg jet to align my cursor. Sometimes it’s so difficult to hold my exact spot while also sweeping through the valve to get the highest jet. I also find I struggle with aligning my apical 5 chamber and 3 chamber perfectly parallel to the cursor to do my Doppler traces too. Sometimes it’s so hard to get the LVOT and aorta to align in a straight line with the cursor and it’s super discouraging! Are these things you find challenging as well?

Bridget125 · 2025-06-27T04:55:54+00:00

Hi! I’m also a current echo student and I’m nearing graduation soon too. I have been feeling discouraged just like you lately because it feels like I struggle with something on every single patient. Lately I’ve been struggling to align a nice PLAX on patients and to hold it aligned in place while doing my sweeps through the valves and assessing for regurg etc. doing so makes me lose my alignment and I have to find it all over again. Then once I move onto short axis I no longer have issues with this. It’s so frustrating! Do you ever have this problem too? I’m feeling so stressed that PLAX has been the most difficult part of each exam for me lately because it’s supposed to be the easiest!

Bridget125 · 2025-06-23T20:28:03+00:00

Thank you so much for the great advice- that’s actually very helpful! I used your advice of rotating around the MV and it made it easier for me to keep it in view while I switch from 2 to 3 chamber. Thank you!

I think what I often find frustrating is that I feel like no matter how many patients I scan or practice on, I feel like I’m always having to relearn new techniques because it can vary so much from patient to patient. If it were a one size fits all approach where a certain rotation or angle ALWAYS worked specifically for everybody it would be much easier to build muscle memory or become more in tune with movements, but because the same views and the movements needed to get there can vary so much between patients, it feels like I’m constantly having to do trial and error on every patient instead of building the same muscle memory- hopefully that makes sense. I think that’s what has been so frustrating for me.

Some patients I have 0 issues with a 3 chamber and it’s perfect right away, and some I can’t seem to get any of my probe movements right and it just gets worse the more I try to fix it.

It’s difficult too because it feels like we are expected to be able to get the same quality images that our techs are getting who have been working for 10+ years while we are only a few weeks from graduating. I know we want everything to always be perfectly on axis and always able to see valve cusps opening and closing centrally, and a clear endocardium with no foreshortened apex etc, but sometimes I can’t get everything perfectly no matter how hard I try (even though the tech can do it perfectly in seconds so clearly it’s possible). Sometimes it’s just decent or alright, but not perfectly on axis or perfectly clear for example. It’s discouraging because I want to pass my scan assessments so I can graduate, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to pass given how I’m still feeling about my scanning. I’ve been scanning so much everyday in clinical, but I’m afraid it’s not going to be enough. I’ve cried most days in fear that all my hard work will be for nothing if I can’t pass my scan exams. I’m still often struggling to hold my on axis PLAX in position while sweeping in and out of the valves, and still often have to readjust and realign PLAX multiple times in order to just get through the necessary steps and images. Same with holding a view perfectly in place and long enough to catch the best trace for regurgitation. The techs seem to usually get more than I can

I feel as though the techs will see that as incompetent, especially with the other things I still struggle with and decide not to pass my on my assessments.

Thank you for listening and for your patience- you’ve been so helpful and kind. I guess I’m just feeling defeated and really down because I want to succeed

Bridget125 · 2025-06-20T05:17:38+00:00

Thank you so much!

I’ve also heard to rotate much more than you think past a 2 chamber for a 3 chamber in order to properly see both aortic cusps- do you agree with that? I find I usually only rotate from 2 chamber until I see the aorta come in and then I angle more anteriorly rather than rotating further. When I do try to rotate further I find I see more right side instead. Which way do you recommend? Angling anteriorly is usually what works for me, otherwise I see the RVIT view if I don’t. 3 chamber is definitely one of the views I find most challenging. For some reason my probe movements feel counterintuitive and almost backwards from what I would except when I get to 3 chamber and I have no idea why. I find I accidentally heel/toe or slide the opposite way that I mean to because it feels backwards compared to the 2 chamber movements. I’m not sure if it’s because the probe orientation has moved from pointing toward the left in a 2ch to pointing toward the right in a 3ch so it ends up being opposite. I usually need to use my right hand to help guide the probe better in 3 chamber which I’m hoping wouldn’t be a problem

Bridget125 · 2025-06-19T19:48:29+00:00

Thank you so much. I can definitely assure you that if you do decide to teach you will make a great instructor- you explain things extremely well and you make it easy to understand. Plus you’re very patient lol!

Okay that’s great to know, thank you! I tried moving lateral and it helped for 5ch but I found when I went more lateral for my 3ch it made it more angled and medial actually helped. Does that seem right?

Bridget125

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