Sonogram Saves Lives

You’ve heard the saying before, “Sonography save lives” but have you ever really given consideration to how sonograms save lives? Sonograms work as early detection tools. Find the disease early enough and modern medicine and surgery can help cure the disease before it takes over the body.

Below are just a few ways sonograms help save lives:

1. In an article that appears in October 2006 issue of The Kansas State Collegian, “Experts in the cardiac field estimate that one in 500 young adults suffer unknowingly from HCM. The only way to detect HCM is through an echocardiogram, a sonogram picture of the heart.”

2. According to the American Journal of Roentgenology, “Mammography is the only screening test that has been known to decrease a woman’s chances of dying from breast cancer.”

3. In a Dear Abby column, a reader mentions how her insistence of a sonogram spotted an aneurism that an AAA test couldn’t find. The sonogram—along with surgery, as the reader put it, “saved her life”.

Come back on Monday as we discuss radiation therapy as it pertains to prostate cancer patients.

Patients And Their Sonographers

We thought it would be both fun and educational to share with you a few posts from patients who’ve given online homage to their sonographers by mentioning how great they’ve been via their personal blog posts.

Reading how patients feel about their sonographers, will help you—the potential graduates—understand just how important your roles are in the lives of your patients, and hopefully, help you understand why bedside manners are vital to your profession.

There are literally hundreds of blog posts mentioning sonographers in one way or another, just do a search on google for “sonographers, blogs” to read more. In the meantime, check out these brief, but powerful comments…

At 35 and a half weeks, Becca tells the world, “The sonographers at the Royal Alexandra Hospital here in Edmonton have been great. I have been seeing them every two weeks since October and they always make a point to let me know exactly what is going on with my baby. I think I might actually miss going to see them!”

Ms. Perky didn’t have much to say about her sonographer except that she finds seeing her regular sonographer “far preferable to the times that I get a doctor and no sonographer, because frankly... Margaret's better at this than they are.” Just goes to show how truly important bedside manners really are! Most patients prefer to see the doc over medical staff without such a degree.

Mellie, dealing with a frightful pregnancy took the time to mention just how helpful her sonographer was, mentioning how she “was quite nice and would explain what body part she was looking at, and frequently used the words ‘perfect’ and ‘beautiful’.”

Come back on Friday. We’ll be sharing ways sonographs save lives.

Sonographers Need To Be Fit

Are you physically ready to become a sonographer? It’s a wonderful, fascinating career choice, but if you’re not physically fit, it could be play havoc on your body.

Sonographers must be able to:

• Help patients get up and down exam tables.
  While most patients will be under 250 pounds, there are patients who weigh more and are receiving sonograms because of personal injury; injury that prevents them from lifting their own bodies.
  
  
• Stand for long periods of time.
  Sonographers spend nearly six hours a day on their feet.
  
  
• Stretch across tables.
  According to a report by Sound Ergonomics, sonographers experience a lot of body aches due to stretching, but understanding how to properly stretch and work with patients can reduce physical stress on the body. To learn more about ways sonographers can prevent physical stress on their bodies, read September 2006’s issue of SonoWorld.
  
  
• Push and pull objects.
  Sonographers must move equipment around the patient to take adequate images. Those objects can weigh as much as 50 pounds.
  

If you have back or neck injuries, consult with your physician before considering a career as a medical sonographer.

Come back on Wednesday. We’ll be sharing a few blog posts about 'Patients And Their Sonographers" to help you understand just how important sonographers are.