Two years ago, Craig Bell was digging in his yard when he experienced a strange sensation. He doesn’t remember it as pain, but it wasn’t normal. “I had a full flush feeling in my throat,” he recalled.  

After taking a nitroglycerin pill, the sensation went away. When he returned to work as an RN in the SOMC Cardiovascular Testing Lab, he mentioned the experience to Dr. Jay Hamze. 

“He said, ‘We need to do a heart cath.’” 

At the time, Bell was not that concerned about his symptoms. He did not believe there was any issue with his heart. In fact, he was more focused on his upcoming vacation. After the test results came back, though, he learned he needed to have open heart surgery. 

“My right coronary was 99% blocked,” he said. “My left anterior descending artery – the widow maker – was 95% blocked. My circumflex was more than 90% blocked. Dr. Hamze told my wife I was lucky to be upright.” 

Fortunately, Bell was able to identify his problem before it was too late. The surgery itself went smoothly. He was told he was the “posterchild” for a successful procedure. “I came off the ventilator very quickly,” he said. “I was back to work in ten weeks. Probably would have come back sooner if they would have let me.” 

Bell’s story is one of a successful surgery and a quick recovery, but it could have gone very differently if he hadn’t caught the problem when he did. That was a real risk because Bell had always thought he was healthy. 

“After a certain age, because I thought I was healthy I didn’t really go to the doctor,” he said, adding “you see why people keel over and don’t know what’s going on with them.” 

If there’s anything others take away from his experience, he hopes it’s the importance of regular check-ups, and that just because you feel okay doesn’t mean there’s not an issue developing beneath the surface.