I had my heart stress test this morning and everything went well because the health care team was very willing to accommodate my disability.
They explained everything that they were doing and what they would do if I got into trouble. They also allowed me to tell them how I needed to make my transfers and to help only when I needed them to help. I asked for and got three people to help with my transfer from my chair to the camera table safely. I also needed their help laying down and sitting back up.
I told the tech. that if I got into any trouble and had to go into surgery not to let them use a depolarizing anesthesia, I was shocked she actually wrote it down. Attitudes are a lot better today in 2005 than they were 20+ years ago when nobody would listen.
They bought my heart rate up to 134 beats per minute which took about 10 minutes as they bought it up slowly. Because of my concerns they used a lower dose than normal and increased it slowly. This worked because it allowed me to relax and adjust to the elevated heart rate. I did not experience any other symptoms such as dizziness or chest pain
I hope this information helps if you have other polio survivors asking questions about a heart stress test. If anyone needs to talk to someone who has gone through the heart stress test, I would be happy to communicate with them.
Peter, kingpc@gmail.com