Hi Dreambeliever--No Need to worry about an echocardiogram. The technician will have you put on a gown, and then you will lay on your left side. The technician will have a "transducer", that is hooked up to a monitor. The transducer sort of looks like a microphone, and it is placed over your chest and moved around to better visualize the structures of your heart.

Actually, it is very similar to a pregnant womam having a sonogram of her baby in her womb.

An echocardiogram bounces sound waves off the different structures of your heart; the waves that "bounce back" (the echos), are captured by the transducer, and then seen on the monitor. It is actually very interesting to watch! You can see the outline of your heart beating, you can see your heart valves opening and closing in "real time", etc.

The echocardiogram is very valuable in determing MANY aspects of heart function. It can determine if the heart is enlarged, if the heart muscle has enough contractility, if there is an area of scar tissue caused by a myocardial infartion (heart attack), if the heart is able to pump out a normal amount of blood volume, if the heart valves are opening and closing properly, etc.
AND--the miracle of all this technology is that it is TOTALLY NON-INVASIVE, and absolutely SAFE.

I don't foresee a major problem with the wires from the VNS on the vagal nerve...the tech may have to have you get into a different position, or angle the transducer a little differently, or press the tranducer against your chest a little harder than normal to get a "good angle" so that the soundwaves aren't bouncing off the wires and creating a lot of "noise" on the screen.

Actually, the only slightly annoying part of the procedure is the gel that is used to help the transducer bounce the soundwaves and recapure them...it is COLD! However, a lot of techs warm the gel up first...

A "piece of cake", considering all the procedures you have been through!

Hope everything turns out well for you!

Brokenwings