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Post by Pinoc on Mar 1, 2019 13:30:33 GMT -5
Anybody ever do the $49 heart scan I hear advertised on the radio? I have heard both that they are beneficial and they are a waste of money just go to a cardiologist. Opinions?
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Post by firstwd on Mar 1, 2019 14:51:59 GMT -5
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Post by moose1am on Mar 1, 2019 20:22:41 GMT -5
Heart attacks are no joke. I've had 4 heart attacks that I know about. Two were before my 3rd which sent me to the ER and then to open heart surgery. I had 4 blocked arteries and quadruple bypass surgery and a MAZE Procedure as well as a mitral valve repair all in an 8.5-hour surgery. I spend 37 days in the hospital and 11 of those days in intensive care. Don't want that again. They split my chest in two and it hurts like HE)) for 3 months. I'm now 10 years post op and now I have prostrate cancer. The hormone treatment made me gain weight and lose all my energy. Believe me you don't want to ignore what your body is telling you. When I had my first heart attack I shrugged it off in the 2001 time frame. I had a pain in the chest that lasted for two whole days and after that I lost all my energy. I could not hold my hands above my head for more than a few seconds. I remember taking a shower and trying to wash my hair and I could not keep my hands up on my head without my arms aching and being so tired. I knew that some thing was wrong. I was getting some chest pains and would take chewable baby aspirin to ease the pain. On March 2, 2009 the asprins failed to ease the pain and I was sent to the ER. They told me that I was having a heart attack which lead to all sorts of heart tests. Echo Test and T Echo Test, Angiogram which detected for blocked arteries in my heart. I had to be given blood thinning shots twice a day in my stomach area for about a week before the Surgeon operated on me. Don't wait until it's too late for you. Once your heart is damaged it's not easy to replace it unless you get a new heart and then that's not the same as your own heart. I'm 68 now and back when I was 58 I thought I was going to die in the hospital. I got a bacterial infection from my open heart surgery which is why I was in the hospital so long. I had to undergo IV antibiotic therapy for two sets of 10 days each. It's no fun having an IV attached to your chest (Central Port) and dragging a IV poll behind you while walking up and down the hospital hallways. Now before all this happened in 2009 I had a CAT scan that showed that I had moderate to mild blockages in my heart arteries. I was not taking my meds as I had given up on that. I failed to act and could have prevented the heart attacks if I had taken my blood pressure and statins meds. I went for about 4 or 6 years without taking meds. I didn't have any health insurance and had to go to a free health clinic and sit and wait for hours to get my meds. I got feed up with the waiting and the stima of being at the free clinic. So I stopped going after I got the $800 bill for the CAT scan. I didn't have any idea that the 2003 CAT scan would cost me $800. I was ed off as I didn't have $800 to pay the bill. The hospital sued me in court and I had to borrow the money to pay the bill. I was mad at my free clinic doctor and stopped seeing him for fear of more high bills that I could not afford to pay. My hospital bill came to around $280,000 or just under 300K. When I first met my heart surgeon I asked him to make me a charity case. He finally agreed to do my operation as a charity case. The hospital did the same. I thought that I would have to sell my house, truck, and boat and still would not be able to pay the bills. I'm on disability now. Took 4 years to get on disability for my heart. Now I have prostate cancer which is in remission for now. I had to go through hormone shots for 2 years and then 44 days of external beam radiation treatments. I also have a tumor on the nerve coatings on my Lumbar 1 vertebrae nerve root. This tumor is growing between the outer sheath on the nerve and the nerve bundle. It causes pain in my left thigh when I stand up for more than a few minutes now. I still get chest pains and am so tired that I can hardly stand up for more than 30 minutes at a time. So I highly recommend that if you have chest pains that you seek medial help and don't put thing off. You only get one life.
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Post by steiny on Mar 2, 2019 12:51:53 GMT -5
I did the treadmill stress test just as a precautionary last year. Doc kinda looked disappointed that I was OK, no issues found.
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Post by bill9068 on Mar 2, 2019 14:19:24 GMT -5
I had the calicum score test done after my family doctor recommended it. Only cost $99 dollars and checks all your arteries. I guess itโs like a cat scan, they put you in machine that looks like one. They score it from 0-400. 0 being best, I scored a 3.
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Post by deadeer on Mar 2, 2019 15:28:44 GMT -5
I did the treadmill stress test just as a precautionary last year. Doc kinda looked disappointed that I was OK, no issues found. Hope you said, "gee, sorry to disappoint you".
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Post by Woody Williams on Mar 2, 2019 15:43:07 GMT -5
I did the treadmill stress test just as a precautionary last year. Doc kinda looked disappointed that I was OK, no issues found. Probably needed your money for a Mercedes payment.. ๐
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Post by bartiks on Mar 4, 2019 20:57:58 GMT -5
Moose, you gave me the nudge I needed to go out and started getting healthy. I've kicked it around for a while and you know fighting with yourself over do you or not. I've got 3 girls and wife that depend on me and such. I had an uncle who died of a heart attack when he was like 43 or so. I'm now 40 and it weighs on my mind. I guess on my next day off I'll go and sign me and the misses up for gym memberships and possibly look into a health screening.
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Post by 10point on Mar 5, 2019 9:20:06 GMT -5
I did the $49 heart scan and got the all clear. I would do it again.
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Post by 36fan on Mar 5, 2019 11:29:06 GMT -5
Do it. It's painless and tells you the percent of clogged arteries/veins you have.
I have a terrible history of heart disease in my dad's family. One uncle died at ~35, another ~45, another had 4 heart attacks and stroke when he finally succumbed at 62, my dad had quadruple bypass (late 60s), another uncle was told he was immediately going for open heart surgery before he had a heart attack (late 60s/early 70s), and the youngest had a heart replacement in his 60s (surgeon said his heart fell apart in his hands as he removed it). That's just my Dad's side of the family. On my mom's side of the family I lost an uncle after a stroke, one uncle is a d-fib, and an aunt is on a-fib.
Needless to say I take my heart health/fitness serious. My good cholesterol is always in range on the low side, and my bad cholesterol is always in range but on the high side. Always. When I turned 40 I asked my Dr. to take a stress test. I wasn't having any symptoms, so he said my insurance wouldn't cover it. He instead recommended I take a calcium score test, and then we would go from there.
I took the $49 test and scored a perfect "0". It was nice reassurance that all the work I put into staying fit is working.
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