MILWAUKEE — Howard Duncan is the owner of the well-known Suburpia Sandwich shop in Milwaukee. At 69, he said he always considered himself fit and healthy.

“I was one of those guys, ‘Nothing’s going to happen to me,’” said Duncan. “I feel great. I don’t have any chest pains. I’m still doing all my yardwork. I’m still coming into work every day and life is great.”

However, a simple glance at a poster in his doctor’s office during a routine visit changed everything.

“In his office, he always had this poster that said, ‘Fifty dollars for a heart scan,’ and I would always go and look at it,” said Duncan. “So finally, one day I said to my doctor, ‘This $50 heart scan, does it really work?’ and he said, ‘Howard, it really works.’”

Duncan decided to get the scan, which measures heart health on a scale of 0 to 300. The results were far from what he expected — his score came back at a shocking 1,583.

“Just a life-changing moment like, ‘What was I thinking or doing?’” he said.

He immediately underwent open-heart surgery. Dr. William Fischer III is the surgeon at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center who performed Duncan’s operation.

Fischer said heart scans are a crucial tool for early detection. He said a number like Duncan’s is not at all that uncommon.

“Just about everyday it turns out,” said Fischer.

Fischer said St. Luke’s performs about 1,500 open heart surgeries annually, making it the busiest hospital in the state. He alone does about 200 of those each year.

“The best $50 I ever spent,” said Duncan.

Now, Duncan is urging others to take their heart health seriously.

“Do the heart scan,” said Duncan. “Do it for your family. Do it for yourself because there is no other way to get rid of this disease.”

Today, Duncan is back to living his life, making sandwiches alongside his wife in their shop.