SBL Heart Center Patient Stories

Restoring More Than Tractors

After a silent heart attack and life-saving care, Joe Gillins is back to fixing what he loves.

Following a trip to the SBL Emergency Department, Joe (Chuck) Gillins credits the cardiology staff for helping him recover from a heart attack and get back to doing what he loves.

Joe is not a “sitter.” Instead, he enjoys being active, especially with his hobby: restoring old tractors. “I have always been fascinated with tractors,” the 74-year-old Villa Grove native said. “I never was a farmer. I just love the way tractors look and sound. Restoring old tractors is a longtime hobby for me.”

He had to take a step back in November, though, to focus on his cardiac health.

He recalled working in his yard and needing to take a break because he started to feel strange. “I did not tell my wife, but the feeling went away,” he explained.

“I woke up the next day and felt weird again. I didn’t experience pain anywhere, but my molar teeth ached.”

As the strangeness worsened, his wife, Judy, told him to call his primary doctor, who immediately told him to go to an emergency room. Judy drove him to Sarah Bush Lincoln and, after examination, Cardiologist Michael LaMonto, DO, told Joe he was having a heart attack. “The heart can be a bad communicator. I did not experience any of the typical symptoms of a heart attack, so I was shocked,” he said.

SBL Interventional Cardiologist Dean Katsamakis, DO, put a stent in Joe’s “widow maker” artery. A blockage in the left anterior descending artery cuts off blood supply to a large area of the heart, making it a particularly dangerous—and often fatal—type of heart attack. Joe stayed in the SBL Intensive Care Unit overnight, and after recovering at home, he enrolled in the SBL Monitored Exercise Testing Services (METS) cardiac rehabilitation program.

Before he started the program, though, he had to endure 30 days of rest. “It was awful,” Joe said. “I don’t like sitting and doing nothing, but I had to, so I could recover. I was happy to start the program and get back on my feet.”

Between January and February, Joe participated in the METS program and received advice on how to keep his heart healthy. “They helped me understand what type of exercise I needed to do regularly and what sort of diet I needed,” Joe said.

“I learned more in those classes than I ever had in my life. I’m eating healthier foods and exercising most days.” Joe has lost 50 pounds since starting METS.

Thinking back on the experience reminds Joe of the surprise of it all. “I never felt the typical pain in my arm or chest,” Joe said. “I never felt like I was dying, but I am blessed to still be here.”

Joe owns two full-size tractors and five gardening tractors, all of which he restored himself. His prized 1955 John Deere serves as his motivation to stay healthy and continue the hobby he loves.

For more information about The Heart Center at Sarah Bush Lincoln, please call 217 238-4960.