One simple screening ended up life-changing for Marc.
Marc, a member of the Plant Services team at Harrison County Hospital, considers himself an active guy. He’s an avid hiker and mushroom hunter, always on the go. During his hikes, while going uphill, Marc started to notice a tight squeeze in his chest.
He went to the doctor, and all of his testing came back okay. However, Marc still had a gut feeling. During one of his work rounds at Harrison County Hospital Marc ended up talking to Jamie, a CT Tech in the Diagnostic Imaging department, about what he was experiencing. It was Jamie who told him about the Cardiac Wellness Screening at HCH, which is a cardiac CT scan of the heart that looks at how much calcium is in your coronary arteries. Levels of calcium can signal the presence of coronary artery disease before symptoms occur. You’ll receive a score, or number, that shows the amount of calcium. The more calcium in the arteries, the greater your risk for heart attack or stroke.
Marc got signed up to have the screening at HCH. A score of 100 is mild, a score of 400 and above is extensive. Within a day of having his screening, Marc received his results, and his score was over 1000. The next week Marc underwent a heart cath, and he learned from the cardiologist that he would need a three or four-way heart bypass. The day after his heart cath, Marc had open heart surgery, and ended up with a four-way bypass.
Marc is back to work now and going to Cardiac Rehab at Harrison County Hospital. He credits the Cardiac Wellness Screening, a test that only cost Marc $99 out of pocket, with saving his life. “The only test that picked up my blockage was the CT,” said Marc. When asked if he was told what his outcome might have been without finding his blockage, Marc said, “If undetected, in the next five years I would have had a massive heart attack.”
The Cardiac Wellness Screening is a quick and easy test performed at Harrison County Hospital. Anyone can schedule a screening by calling 812-738-7864, and the cost is $99.