Like any proud dad, Alan Gates was happy to do a favor for his daughter, Jackie Bolton. 

As part of commissioning a new CT scanner with the capacity to visualize the heart and the arteries that feed it, North Mississippi Medical Center-West Point needed a few volunteers in September 2023. Jackie, a nurse who coordinates the hospital’s Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation program, recruited her dad to help. 

“I volunteered for her,” Alan said. 

That favor revealed the arteries serving his heart were dangerously clogged.

“They told Jackie, ‘You saved your daddy’s life,’” said the 61-year-old from West Point.

The West Point team sent Alan to NMMC-Tupelo with plans to improve blood flow and place stents in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab. However, his blockages were so hard, they couldn’t open the arteries. Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Vishal Sachdev performed open heart surgery and found three of Alan’s arteries were 97% blocked and one was 100% blocked. Dr. Sachdev placed four bypasses to restore full blood flow to Alan’s heart. 

“I hadn't had a heart attack, but it was coming,” said Alan, who was 59 years old at the time. “I was a walking dead man.” 

Because the CT scan found the severe blockages before Alan had a heart attack, the muscles in his heart weren’t damaged. 

“They told me I have the heart of a 35-year-old,” Alan said. “My plumbing was just no good.”

Before the scan, Alan had no idea trouble was brewing. He worked for the West Point Water Department and a rural water association as a certified water operator. Most evenings, he mowed grass as a side job. 

“I didn’t ever slow down,” Alan said. “I didn’t think I had a problem. If I got tired quicker, I thought it was because I was getting older.” 

High Tech for Hearts

The advanced medical imaging technology that found Alan’s clogged arteries allows North Mississippi Health Services in West Point and Tupelo to offer two kinds of tests to assess the heart. CT, computerized tomography, uses special X-ray equipment to capture images from different angles and puts them together to create a 3D image of body tissues and organs. 

A calcium score uses CT imaging to look for specks of calcium in the walls of the heart’s arteries. It can indicate early heart disease and assess heart attack risk. Calcium scoring is available as part of a $95 heart screening, along with an EKG and blood test, available at NMMC-West Point and Cardiology Associates of North Mississippi in Tupelo.  

A CT Angiogram, which requires special dye given by IV, provides very detailed images. It can be used to examine blood vessels as well as other structures in and around the heart. 
 

Recovery

After Alan’s open heart surgery, it took him about two months to return to work. That was a challenge for someone who grew up on a dairy farm, working seven days a week. 

“It was really tough the first month,” he said. 

The work didn’t stop after his initial recovery. Alan has worked with the team at Cardiology Associates of North Mississippi in Starkville to reduce his risk of future heart trouble. He takes a statin to lower his LDL (bad) cholesterol as much as possible and is working to improve the control of his diabetes. 

He has slowed down a little bit, retiring from the West Point Water Department. He still works for the rural water association. 

He and his wife, Tina, have been married for 41 years. Jackie and their 5-year-old granddaughter, Laken, are the lights of their lives. He is grateful for more time with his family and to be able to do the things he loves, like deer hunting. 

“I feel good,” Alan said. “The Lord wasn’t ready for me.”