Know Your Numbers
How Knowing His Numbers Saved One Man’s Life
Following the crowd and taking a calcium scoring test may have saved Tony Hopper’s life.
“Everyone else was getting it done, so I thought, why not?” Hopper said.
Hopper, 65, is a practice manager for UK Kings Daughters Cardiology. He’s worked with cardiologists Charles Rhodes, M.D., for 36 years and Michele Friday, M.D., for eight. He was familiar with calcium scoring, but had never had the test himself.
Calcium scoring is a simple, non-invasive CT scan for those age 40+ who may be at risk for coronary artery disease but have no symptoms. It’s used to measure hardened plaque in the heart’s arteries to predict the risk of a heart event. A score of 0 is considered no risk; 1-100 mild; 101-400 moderate; and more than 400 severe. Hopper scored over 2,000.
The results were unexpected – especially since Hopper had no symptoms, led an active lifestyle, and ate fairly healthy. His regular checkups showed no issues with cholesterol, blood sugar or blood pressure.
Hopper immediately was scheduled for a CT angiography. The results indicated a blockage. He, Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Friday anticipated a straightforward fix: find the blockages and clear them during a cardiac catheterization. Unfortunately, Hopper’s situation proved to be more complex. Although Dr. Friday did not perform the procedure, she accompanied him to offer both professional and moral support.
Unfortunately, his blockages were too severe to be opened using minimally-invasive procedures. He was referred to UK King’s Daughters cardiothoracic surgeon Eric Bronstein, M.D., for heart surgery. Dr. Bronstein explained that despite all the good things he was doing for his health, genetics do play a role.
“You can’t pick your family or the genes they give you,” Hopper said.
Six hours after triple bypass surgery, Hopper was up walking the hospital halls. He spent three days in the hospital. Soon after, he started cardiac rehabilitation and was back to work within four weeks.
With the encouragement of Dr. Friday, he’s sharing his story to bring awareness to the importance of doing all you can to ensure your heart is at its best. Dr. Friday is a strong advocate for being proactive and expressed gratitude that her colleague and friend had the calcium scoring test.
Hopper is grateful as well. “I had no fear, no doubt. I had complete trust,” Hopper said. “I know this is nothing new to the care team. They do this every day. But it’s given me a new appreciation of the level of care here. It just keeps getting better and better.”
To schedule a calcium scoring test, talk with your healthcare provider. Testing is performed at UK King’s Daughters and the Imaging Center in Ashland, at King’s Daughters Ohio in Portsmouth and at UK King’s Daughters Paintsville. Same-day cardiology appointments are available in Ashland, Russell/Bellefonte, Portsmouth and Prestonsburg. Call (606) 324-4745 to schedule.