A CT SCAN CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE

This isn't exactly a training tip, although it might save your life. I just turned 49 on Oct 8th, and two days later, I went to the Boulder Community Hospital because of chest pain and shortness of breath. It turned out that my left main coronary artery was 99% blocked and I was on the verge of a massive heart attack. Apparently this had been building for some time.

They performed an Angioplasty and inserted a stent, which, as they said, will give me a new lease of life - possibly thirty or more years if I take care of myself.

The reason that I'm telling you this is so that you take such symptoms seriously. I have been an athlete for most of my life. I have eaten well and exercised regularly - except for a relatively brief period, during a recovery from a back injury. I don't smoke, rarely drink, and avoid recreational drugs. The point is that my heart disease was hereditary, which, as I found out, isn't that uncommon.

Anyway, if you're over forty, have had chest pains and/or breathing difficulties, go in and have your heart scanned. It could literally save your life.

Interesting story

Cheers,

KC

Cardiac?

Good for you, glad to hear everything's ok. And thanks for the good advice.

John I get a yearly stress test done as well as a EKG. I'm in good health as well but the men in my family have heart failure normally by 60. You just never know.

Pretty serious for sure. I was at berthoud last year, on the way back over the pass on the way home there was a lot of rescue people and ambulances. I thought it was an avalanche but later learned it was a BC skier that died of heart failure while hiking in his low to mid forty's. No previous sign's or symptoms leading upto the event, just out of the blue. Turns out I think it was indeed hereditary.

"Preventive" CT's are a terrible and amazingly expensive idea.

Glad you're ok.

Holy shit Ken.

Quite the run of buzzard's luck lately. Catching it before the massive attack is so fortunate. This site sure ain't the same without you buddy.

Greg DeMatteo wrote:"Preventive" CT's are a terrible and amazingly expensive idea. Glad you're ok.

Expensive, and a slightly risky, although better than the alternative. Other than an Angiogram, a CT scan will give the best image of any plaque buildup. It saved my life. Anyway, I felt it important to give you guys a heads up.

I hope everyone is well.

KC

Mike Lane wrote:Holy shit Ken. Quite the run of buzzard's luck lately. Catching it before the massive attack is so fortunate. This site sure ain't the same without you buddy.

Thanks, Mike. It's true; Betsy and I have had our share of challenges over the past few years, but we are grateful to still be standing after the dust settled. Maybe our luck will turn around now.

Cheers,

KC

Allen Hill wrote:John I get a yearly stress test done as well as a EKG. I'm in good health as well but the men in my family have heart failure normally by 60. You just never know.

Allen, is the stress test the test that costs about $3,000, maybe more, and isn't usually covered by insurance? I think I have a story like yours with good personal health (runner, fit, etc.) but a bad family history of heart attacks and strokes that makes me worried. My doctor, who is a good and trusted friend as well, has brought up the possibility of a test that costs a few thousand but it's not covered by insurance. The whole thing makes me think but I don't know of anyone else, especially my age, getting stress tests done.

Zed wrote: Thanks, Mike. It's true; Betsy and I have had our share of challenges over the past few years, but we are grateful to still be standing after the dust settled. Maybe our luck will turn around now. Cheers, KC

Sounds like it just did.

Ken, glad to hear you are recovering.

I know a climber who in his young 30's had his heart stop in Eldo, while heading up the "trail" towards the top of Hawk Eagle Ridge. He was a champion long distance runner at the time. He passed out in the middle of a slab and his knees locked and we went over backwards, landing in a pile-driver on body-sized chuncks of Talus with his pack on, breaking his neck and cutting his head up pretty badly.

He had ignored a few symptems... previously and on that morning.

Maybe 'preventative' CT's are not the way to go unlesds there is some known risk factor like family history or symptems, but I think the message here is clearly not to ignore symptems.

Tony Bubb wrote:Ken, glad to hear you are recovering.

Thank you for the kind words, Tony. I know that you haven't been too fond of me in the past, so they mean a lot, coming from you.

American Heart Association for good overview, then with previous info under your belt find reputable M.D. to discuss best way forward. Similar are preventative cancer screen tests, etc...good luck to all

After a recent mc accident, I had suffered some internal injuries, one of which was a grade four "laceration" of the spleen. Due to the internal bleeding episodes, I had three CTs in two weeks time. I remember my trauma surgeon saying that a typical human can handle maybe a half dozen of these scans (if that).

Preventative checks for cardiac problems are probably best started with a stress test, or treadmill test. Good luck Ken.

Adam Stackhouse wrote: Preventative checks for cardiac problems are probably best started with a stress test, or treadmill test. Good luck Ken.

My cardiologist has scheduled me for several stress tests as soon as the suture in my femoral artery has healed. Needless to say, I have a vested interest in having them regularly from now on.

phil sasso wrote:find reputable M.D

For those of you in the Boulder area, my cardiologist is Dr. Nelson Trujillo. He is the top guy at Boulder Community Hospital, which I found out is one of the top-rated cardiac hospital in the country.

remembering what Zed said, fyi saw this today (Arvada Press, 12-18) and thought to bump this thread..

Lutheran Medical Center is offering CT scans for a Special Holiday price of $200 - "good for any appointments made for anytime in December 2008" - Note this is for a *calcium score only* -- more info can be located here

Give a gift to someone you care about -- it could help to save their life

edit: this article lists amounts of radiation exposure based upon procedure: radiologyinfo.org
imo benefits should be evaluated vs. risk ie Radiate Responsibly

kirra wrote:remembering what Zed said, fyi saw this today (Arvada Press, 12-18) and thought to bump this thread.. Lutheran Medical Center is offering CT scans for a Special Holiday price of $200 - "good for any appointments made for anytime in December 2008" Give a gift to someone you care about -- it could save their life

As a CT Tech working in a cardiac-focused hospital I actually perform these "heart scans". We call them Coronary Calcium Scoring, price is $199 (except in February when they're cheaper). We also do contrast enhanced CCTA (Coronary Computerized Tomographic Angiography) but that's a whole different story.

Insurance doesn't pay for the Calcium Scans. This is mostly due to what John Langston touched on regarding preventative medicine. Insurance companies have long struggled with the concept of paying for services/procedures on asymptomatic patients.

I'm not saying everyone should go out and get scanned but for people with a strong family history of CAD, elevated lipid profiles, and exertional chest discomfort it's a reasonable place to start. As for the radiation exposure...that's absolutely a concern. CT scans in general deliver way more radiation that standard x-rays. With that in mind I think people should be selective in their decision to have a heart scan. We see a lot of people get scanned for the "peace of mind" despite having no risk factors. This I don't agree with.

Several years ago we scanned a patient (an eye doctor) with no symptoms. He had one of the highest calcium scores I've ever seen and three days later he had six-way bypass surgery. For a long time he was our poster-child.

hi Doug, since your copy of my quoted post I had since added, this was specifically for 'calcium scoring' and also added details (edit:link) concerning exposure levels to radiation

agreed -folks should research if they happen to be in a *high-risk* category ie smoker etc. and items you mentioned. Benefits should be evaluated vs risk factors

thanks much ~k

I am very glad that you got this taken care of. Maybe that CT is heavy on the radiation, but the alternative is a dead heart & body. Anyway, I am wishing you well and take care. Get a colonoscopy, too, if you are nearing my age (55) as it can find things before it is too late. Again, sending positive karma your way, amigo!

Thanks for the kind words, Trad. You can bet that I'll be paying close attention to getting regular checkups from now on.