JIM BUSEK: Perhaps the luckiest thing that ever happened to him

I had surgery last week to repair some congenitally damaged parts of my heart and aorta. The story re-printed below is from June 9, 2014. It tells of perhaps the luckiest thing to ever happen to me — lucky because had I not participated in the research study described here, I would have ended up, at best, someday needing emergency surgery or, at worst, attending my own early funeral.The human brain is the most amazing thing there is.But the human heart has to be in the conversation. It starts beating even before you are born. And then it pulses out life-giving fluid in the exact amounts needed for all our days. Millions of precise surges, measured out by valves that open and close without adjustment for decades. Miraculous.I could not help but think about that miracle as I chatted with an echocardiographer who was examining an ultrasound of my heart at The Cleveland Clinic. From time to time he would also open the speakers on his device so that we could hear the remarkable beating of my heart, the rushing of blood from one chamber to another.The fact that everybody is walking around with something that amazing inside them is beyond belief.That introspection was just one benefit of the morning I spent at the clinic.Along with it, I also received hundreds of dollars worth of procedures, tests and analysis—free! —at one of the world's great hospitals. Best of all, you can get the same deal. Read on.I heard about it from a friend of mine. He and his wife did it. And he says he has subsequently told everyone he knows about it. And lots of those people have done it, too.It's part of a research study called The Cleveland Heart and Metabolic Prevention Study (CHAMPS). They need up to 2000 people to take part in the study. The only qualifier is that you must not currently have known heart failure or weakening of the heart muscle or structure.Char and I qualified. So we did it a few weeks ago.Jennifer and Tim are the two main people involved in the research. And they are friendly and warm through the entire process. There is a straightforward consent form. And then they get right to the testing.The tests include an electrocardiogram, an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound), a liver ultrasound, measurement of the carotid arteries and some comprehensive health questionnaires. They draw 4.5 tablespoons of blood to analyze for the usual cholesterol and triglycerides along with several other things too complicated to share. They have you breathe hard into a couple of devices and pee gently into another (okay, it's a cup).In general, the whole thing was about as difficult as watching television. The hardest thing for me was expelling air from my lungs on the spirometry test. But it only lasted a couple of minutes.And in return the world famous Cleveland Clinic learned and shared the precise condition of my heart and liver, determined whether anything was blocked or damaged, analyzed how efficiently blood was moving through my body, measured my body fat, checked the condition of my blood pressure and blood vessels and determined the capacity of my lungs.Obviously I am paraphrasing some pretty sophisticated medical analysis. But the bottom line is that we each received a first class health screening.They make it very clear that the data they are gathering is for research and is not diagnostic. But for each of us—Char and me—they found something important enough for us to follow up with our own health care providers.In all, I highly recommend you look into it. There is absolutely no cost (in fact, they even pay your parking at The Clinic parking facility). They have a triple-secret coding so that no one knows the names of the research participants. You can opt out of any of the tests or only participate in part of the testing.They will only contact you once a year to see if you have any new symptoms or changes in your health. And if you want them to stop calling, just tell them and they will.Really, it's a good deal. If you are interested, email them at champs@ccf.org or call Jennifer Kirsop at 216-636-6153. She's nice. You'll see.Even if all you get out of it is a raised awareness of the amazing perpetual engine called your heart, it will have been a day well spent.2016 update: The CHAMPS study is ongoing. Jennifer and Tim are still there. But they no longer do some of the tests described in the 2014 column, including the echocardiogram—the test that discovered my aortic stenosis and got me visiting the cardiologist who, despite my complete lack of symptoms, was able to tell me the precise time I needed surgery before something terrible happened. Jim Busek is a free-lance writer who lives in Norwalk. He can be reached via e-mail at jimbusek@hotmail.com.Jim Busek