This is not my typical Ground Transportation Insights article. It’s a personal reflection I felt compelled to share, and I hope it encourages someone to have a conversation they’ve been putting off.
Last Saturday evening, my brother-in-law, Will, suffered a heart attack.
Over the next few days, our family lived on phone calls, text messages, and prayers. We waited for updates from thousands of miles away, hoping each one would bring better news than the last. We didn’t know what the coming days would hold or whether surgery would even be possible.
Tuesday night, he passed away.
He was in his mid-50s.
Adding to the heartbreak, his family lives in an area currently affected by severe wildfires. Even being together has been made more difficult by circumstances beyond anyone’s control. It has been an incredibly difficult few days for everyone who loved him.
This isn’t the article I planned to write this week.
In fact, it isn’t really a Ground Transportation Insights article at all. But sometimes life has a way of reminding us that some conversations are simply more important than the ones we had planned.
The truth is, this story didn’t begin last Saturday.
It began several years ago.
Like many people, life got busy. Over the past few years, I left Disney after a career that spanned more than two decades, accepted a new position in Texas, started my own consulting business, and eventually moved back to Florida. They were exciting changes, but somewhere along the way I kept telling myself I’d get back to taking care of my own health.
I wasn’t ignoring my health because I didn’t care. I was doing what so many of us do—I convinced myself there would be time later.
I have a bicuspid aortic valve with mild regurgitation that should be monitored annually. Instead, several years slipped by before I finally scheduled an appointment with my cardiologist.
Thankfully, I did.
At that appointment, my cardiologist updated my evaluation, performed an EKG, and recommended a more comprehensive workup because of my age and other risk factors. That included a coronary artery calcium (CAC) scan.
The scan found calcified plaque in my coronary arteries.
It wasn’t the news I wanted to hear.
But it was the news I needed to hear.
That one test changed the conversation.
My cholesterol medication was increased. We talked about diet. We talked about exercise. When I mentioned that I had noticed a decline in my stamina and was becoming more winded doing activities like yard work, my cardiologist ordered a nuclear stress test to make sure the plaque wasn’t significantly limiting blood flow to my heart.
Thankfully, those results were reassuring.
The stress test showed normal heart function and no evidence of significant blood flow limitation during exercise.
I don’t share any of this because I want sympathy.
I share it because, just a few months ago, I probably would have told you I felt reasonably healthy.
Would my brother-in-law’s story have been different if he had undergone the same testing?
I don’t know.
No one can honestly answer that question.
Heart disease is complicated. Every person is different. Every medical history is different.
But I do know this.
My calcium scan changed my story.
Not because it found an emergency.
Because it prompted a conversation...
...and that conversation led to action.
It prompted additional testing.
It changed my treatment plan.
It gave me an opportunity to make different choices before a problem became a crisis.
As someone who has spent a career in transportation, I’ve always believed in preventive maintenance.
We inspect buses before they leave the yard.
We monitor tire pressure.
We change fluids before engines fail.
We invest thousands of dollars preventing breakdowns because we know the cost of waiting.
Yet many of us don’t approach our own health with the same discipline.
We postpone physicals.
We ignore fatigue.
We assume getting older simply means slowing down.
We tell ourselves we’ll get around to it.
Sometimes we don’t.
It’s now been a little over two months since that appointment.
I’ve changed my diet.
I’ve become much more intentional about exercise.
And I’ve already noticed something encouraging.
My stamina has improved.
Activities that were leaving me unusually winded just a few months ago are becoming easier, even in the Florida heat.
I still have work to do.
But I’m moving in the right direction.
I don’t know what tomorrow holds for any of us.
What I do know is that this week reminded me how quickly life can change.
I can’t tell you whether a coronary artery calcium scan would have changed Will’s story.
I can only tell you what it changed in mine.
For me, it was a cardiology appointment. For you, it may be something entirely different. Whatever it is, don’t keep telling yourself you’ll get to it later.
If you’ve been putting off that physical...
If you’ve been ignoring symptoms...
If you’ve been telling yourself you’ll get around to it someday...
Make the appointment.
Have the conversation.
Ask the questions.
Then act on what you learn.
Your physician will help determine what screenings or tests are appropriate for you based on your age, medical history, family history, symptoms, and other risk factors.
Please don’t wait.
The people who love you need you here.
Author’s Note: A coronary artery calcium (CAC) scan may not be appropriate for everyone. Whether this or another screening test is right for you depends on your age, medical history, family history, symptoms, and other risk factors. My hope in sharing this story is simply to raise awareness that this screening exists and to encourage you to have a conversation with your primary care physician or cardiologist about what is appropriate for your individual situation. In my case, the out-of-pocket cost was approximately $100.
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Excellent article Brian. If even one person is influenced by it to act it will be well worth it. Thank. you for sharing what I know is a painful reality for your family.