GEAUGA COUNTY, Ohio — As we wind down heart month here’s a compelling story about a lifesaving Valentine’s Day gift.
John and Marsha Hiscox couldn’t wait to walk into 2020 because both planned to retire. Last year had been rough. Marsha needed physical therapy to overcome a broken elbow and back. John went with her to the appointments and usually scrolled through his phone while waiting.
One day a post about a free Coronary Calcium Score Test at University Hospitals caught his eye.
“I like free and it was a free screening,” John says.
Little did he know that the simple non-invasive screening would save his life. His score was 681. Four hundred is the bench mark for high risk of a future heart attack. A stress test and cardiac catherization followed along with worse news.
“They said I didn’t need a stent, I needed quadruple bypass surgery,” John says.
John was supposed to retire on Valentine’s Day and share the special night with the love of his life. Instead, their day began at University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center.
“I had no symptoms, nothing, no shortness of breath, I wasn’t tired, just going through life doing normal things,” John says.
Fortunately the calcium screening warned of the danger before there was any real damage to John’s heart, but his arteries weren’t going to last long. Dr. Alan Markowitz needed to take arteries from his arm and leg to use to bypass the constricted ones that weren’t getting enough blood to his heart.
It was the best Valentine’s gift ever for Marsha. The heart she wears around her neck says ‘Love Never Fails,’ and now she knows John’s heart won’t either.
“They said, 'You are very, very fortunate,' and I said that’s all in God’s time, he controls it all and so we are very fortunate.” John said.