Do You Know Your Score? - The Cardiac Score Screening Can Save Your Life

Jack Nobles and his wife Linda, residents of Hurley, have become unofficial spokespeople for the Cardiac Score Screening in the last year. The Cardiac Score Screening, also known as the calcium score screening, given at SRHS, measures risks for heart attack and heart disease. This simple, non-invasive test just might have saved his life.

Linda learned of the screening at the American Heart Association’s annual Go Red for Women symposium in 2010. She encouraged her husband to get one when she noticed him getting fatigued and knew his family history of heart problems. With good results from a stress test and EKG respectively the past two years, no pain, and his approaching 70th birthday, Jack believed nothing was wrong except age. Nevertheless, his cardiologist was concerned about the fatigue, and Dr. Hugo Quintana scheduled the Cardiac Score.

His screening was scheduled the same week. The screening itself only took about five to 10 minutes, and they had his results right after. The nurses immediately called his doctor; as his score of 1,713 was well over the typical “high score” of 400.

“Jack kept saying there’s something wrong with the machine because there’s not anything wrong with me,” Linda said. But, his doctor knew better. Two days later he was headed into the heart catheterization lab to determine the type and severity of the blockage.

The heart cath determined that Jack had an 80 percent blockage. The medical team was able to take care of it with a stint. “The doctor said, ‘This week you had an 80 percent, maybe a month down it could have been a 90, and then a heart attack. You’re very fortunate that you came on in and we got it taken care of with a stint,’” Jack reflected. Open heart surgery was also a possibility until they saw what kind of blockage it was.

Because of his experience, Jack and Linda have told everyone they can about the Cardiac Score Screening that saved Jack’s life last May. He said most people have never heard of it, and some people he encouraged to get it found that they too had a blockage.

“These are small preventative things for good health,” Linda said. “I wish they had this Cardiac Score Screening when I had my heart attack back in 2004 …It may have prevented me from having to go through what I went through.”

Since getting the stint placed, Jack worked out with cardiac rehabilitation for three months and has continued his workout program at Healthplex, which is located across the lobby from the cardiac rehab facility. He has lost more than 20 pounds and doesn’t need as much of his diabetes medication as before. “If people will come work out, it’s not only heart healthy but it will help you with the other, so I recommend it to anyone,” he said.

Linda said they are supporters of all preventive tests, but that this cardiac score is not as well known as a mammogram or a PSA screening. She wants everyone to know it’s non-invasive and can prove to be extremely important. “From the time you check in until the time you check out, it’s maybe 30 minutes, and that 30 minutes can be a life saver in the long run.”

Linda said people take the hospital for granted until they have to visit the emergency room, “but these [screenings] are the preventative things they’re trying to do to keep you from having to make those trips to the emergency room and having to be admitted. I’m really glad that the hospital has the insight to push forward with things like that.”

The Cardiac Score Screening, also known as the Calcium Score Screening, requires a physician order and can be performed at Singing River Health System locations in Pascagoula and Ocean Springs. For more information, visit mysrhs.com or call 228-497-7470. For more details, see the Cardiac Score Screening page.

Take advantage of this screening now so you can catch any possible screenings early like Jack and Linda. “We’re extremely blessed that God gave him a little sign for something that turned out to be something that could have taken his life. All those tests are there for a reason.”