Greater Cincinnati man shares important advice to follow for men’s heart health

By Mike Dardis

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    CINCINNATI (WLWT) — Since 1950, heart disease has been the leading cause of death yearly in America. Every 34 seconds, a life is lost.

Jim Tuttle is a man with local ties who followed an important sign, and he wants you to do the same.

“It was amazing that I never had a stroke or never had a heart attack,” Tuttle said.

In the early 1970s, Tuttle was a highly touted pitcher from the Cincinnati area from Roger Bacon High. He was drafted in the second round by Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics.

As a hard-throwing righty, Jim routinely exchanged signs with the catcher while standing on the mound. But a few months ago, it was another kind of sign while walking in CVG airport that saved his life.

“I know my body, and I’m thinking something’s got to be up here. I just thought maybe it was because I was overweight,” Tuttle said.

A relative told Jim about the noninvasive coronary calcium scan, which costs $99 out-of-pocket at many area hospitals. He went to Christ Hospital, and his numbers were through the roof. Christ Hospital’s legendary heart surgeon, Dr. Dean Kereiakes, knew something had to be done quickly.

“It’s one of the highest calcium scores that I’ve seen, which says a lot. So, I knew he was going to have a problem. We brought him in right away,” Kereiakes said.

Kereiakes is now the Chairman of Christ’s Heart and Vascular Institute. He had Jim do the dye test, which showed major blockage in three of the four arteries to the heart, including nearly 100 percent blockage in the LAD, also known as the widow maker.

A simple sign followed up by a simple medical fix has given Jim more time with his wife of 46 years and his grandkids.

“This is able to be covered with a single large stent, which we did here, and you can see that artery hasn’t been that wide open since he was 30 or 40 years old,” Kereiakes said.

Jim is excited and relieved he has longer to experience the important things in life.

“I’m going to have to help my grandchildren if they want to play baseball, and I’d like to be there. So, do I want to live to 100? I doubt it. But I’d like to maybe make it into the high 80s,” he said with a laugh.

Many people don’t want to pay for a heart test, and most of us don’t want to hear bad news, but it might just be the difference between life and death. Jim’s advice is to get the coronary calcium scan. It’s available at most area hospitals and medical clinics.

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