Joe McCullah’s wife saved his life by arguing with him. Sixty-nine-year-old McCullah, a real estate broker and lifelong resident of Aurora, woke up one morning in July 2002, showered, dressed and started to head out the door for work at his real estate agency when his wife Lana asked him if he was feeling OK.

“I said, ‘Yes, I’m just a little tired, but I’m OK,’” McCullah says. “She said, ‘Well, you don’t look OK.’ She grabbed my wrist to take my pulse and said, ‘Your heart is running away with itself. You need to go see Sam (Watts, M.D., McCullah’s primary care physician who practices at St. John’s Mount Vernon clinic.) I said, ‘No, I don’t have time to go right now and I have an appointment next week for my yearly physical. I’ll just wait and get checked out then.’ She insisted that I go right then. So, I caved in and went –  and it probably saved my life.”

Watts performed an EKG, which revealed an abnormal heart rhythm, and sent McCullah by ambulance to St. John’s Hospital.

An angiogram revealed that five of McCullah’s coronary arteries were blocked, which restricted blood flow to his heart. St. John’s cardiac surgeon Clyde Redmond, M.D., performed quintuple bypass surgery on McCullah two days later on Lana’s birthday – July 26, 2002.

Less than a week after surgery, McCullah returned home to Aurora and began making a series of lifestyle changes. He began phase I of cardiac rehabilitation at St. John’s Hospital-Aurora, about four weeks after returning home. Cardiac rehab is a carefully monitored exercise program designed to make the most of functioning heart tissue after a heart attack or bypass surgery.

“I chose to do my rehab at Aurora because I live and work here and I’ve known a lot of the people there for years. It’s convenient for me because in my business, I can’t always hit my appointment right on time, and they can always accommodate me,” McCullah says.

The Aurora hospital has offered cardiac rehab since 1985, says David Dickson, the cardiac rehab coordinator for the facility. Dickson says about 175 cardiac patients do their rehab at the Aurora hospital.

“The oldest cardiac rehab patient we have here is 90 and the youngest is 36. Many of these patients couldn’t even do one lap around the track when they started and have improved by leaps and bounds since they’ve been here,” Dickson says.

Phase I of cardiac rehab consists of light, monitored exercise with daily vital signs taken at the facility. Patients in phase I wear a heart monitor while they exercise. After phase I, the exercise program advances slowly and carefully. It is accompanied by education about heart-healthy nutrition, stress reduction and smoking cessation. Many patients leave cardiac rehab feeling far better and in better health than they were before their heart attack or operation. Phase II of the program involves an increase in intensity in exercise and lasts about three months.

McCullah, who prefers to wear his cowboy boots when he works out, is in phase III of the program, which is the last phase and is a maintenance program. He walks the track and treadmill, rides the stationary bike and works out with weights.

Less than a week after surgery, McCullah returned home to Aurora and began making a series of lifestyle changes. The first change he made was reducing the amount of red meat in his diet.

“I love red meat. I could make a meal out of a steak, baked potato and a salad. I could eat that at least once a day. Now, I eat a steak maybe every other week. I eat chicken and fish and some pork now, but nothing with skin and nothing fried. Everything’s grilled,” he says.

The next major lifestyle change for McCullah was selling his real estate agency, Reliable Real Estate, where he was the primary broker.

“I am attempting to slow down. It’s hard to do because I’ve been in business so long. In January, I sold to Century 21 but have stayed on as a broker so I can still take care of my clients. I try to keep my work week limited to four days a week – I take Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays off. I also hired an assistant, Carol Strahley, who has really helped me stay organized and has reduced my stress level at the office,” he says. 

Before his surgery, the McCullahs had sold their multilevel home in town and moved to a single-story house on the outskirts of Aurora. The country setting and single story aided in McCullah’s recovery, he says.

“The new home has walk-in showers and is all on one floor. I would have had quite a problem, I think, trying to negotiate the steps in the old house after my surgery. It was a very fortunate move. My wife also took great care of me after my surgery,” McCullah says.