Robert McGuire

Robert "Butch" McGuire, passed away on May 17th, 2006. We knew Butch since he came into our care in the spring of 1995, and his generosity of spirit and wonderful presence will be sorely missed by those of us lucky enough to come to know him; funny; kind; discreetly generous both to the clinic and to his fellow transplant patients. The story below was published on our web site in 2004; we plan to keep it online as a tribute and memorial to our good friend.

You Can Meet Him at McGuire's

Nearly every day for 44 years, Robert "Butch" McGuire has been opening and running his Irish bar and restaurant, Butch McGuire's. After four and a half decades, why hasn't this saloonkeeper entrepreneur retired from the enormous responsibility and long hours associated with running a booming business in Chicago's exclusive Gold Coast neighborhood?

Retirement isn't on the horizon for McGuire. In fact, the past nine years have probably been easier and more enjoyable for McGuire than his "younger days." Why? Because McGuire quit smoking, weighs 45 percent less and has a whole lot more energy ... along with a renewed appreciation for life.

Why the drastic change for the affable owner and operator of the nation's first singles bar in Chicago's north side? "Because my old ways ruined my health and made it necessary for me to get a new heart," says McGuire.

An Irishman playing 'Russian Roulette'

Butch's lifestyle caused him to tip the scales at 320 pounds, develop high blood pressure and harbor some bad habits. "My own employees had orders to kick me out if my drinking got out of hand," says McGuire, who smoked big Honduran cigars, ate breakfasts of steak, eggs, grease-laden potatoes and riffled down coffee like water. "I invested a lot of research and development time concocting drinks like the 'Harvey Wallbanger' and 'Skip and Go Naked," he laughs.

"I was on medication for my blood pressure," says McGuire, "and so I figured I would be okay." In fact, McGuire pretty much thought he was invincible. But his father died of a heart attack at age 49 and the cards were beginning to stack against him.

Late nights, unbridled health habits and working seven days a week caught up with McGuire ... and his Irish luck ran out. In 1982, he suffered two massive heart attacks and remained hospitalized for three months. He also endured a 12-hour operation for quadruple bypass, endocardiac resection and ventricular aneurysm repair.

"After that I got my weight down and eliminated my bad habits," recalls McGuire, "but I still developed progressive heart failure." In 1990, McGuire received an implant defibrillator and pacemaker. "By 1991, I was listed for a heart transplant at two centers," he says. But McGuire's wait was long and his health continued to decline.

Nearly dying before receiving life

McGuire received last rites after his first heart attack, but he survived that ordeal, the follow-on attack and subsequent reparative surgeries and implants. But in the spring of 1995, McGuire was compelled to visit Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Confined to a wheelchair and barely able to breathe, the Mayo Clinic cardiac transplant team admitted him to Saint Marys Hospital, part of Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

"Butch was put on the drug Dobutamine, which stimulates the heart to pump," explains Christopher McGregor, M.D., a heart transplant surgeon at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. "His heart function was rapidly decreasing and his life slipping away," explains Dr. McGregor, who subsequently placed McGuire on Status I organ transplant urgency in June.

Fourteen days later, a donor heart became available and Dr. McGregor performed McGuire's heart transplant operation. McGuire believes the organ came from a healthy 37-year-old male who died in a motor vehicle accident.

"Butch will remain on anti-rejection (immunosuppressant) drugs for the rest of his life, but we expect him to function normally with his new heart."

"The need for organ donors is imperative," explains Dr. McGregor. "For every patient that receives a life-saving heart transplant, there are approximately another 25 who could benefit from such a transplant."

Showing heartfelt gratitude

In 1996, a grateful McGuire got involved in the American Transplant Association, which provides education and support to organ transplant patients and their families. McGuire not only organizes and leads fundraising events, but provides personal support to patients who are waiting to receive life-saving transplants. "I remain active in this organization because I not only believe in — but first-hand experienced — what it stands for," says McGuire. My motto is "Don't take your organs to heaven, because heaven knows we need them here," says McGuire.

"I am now a self-proclaimed 'amateur cardiologist,' but my wife Mary Jo and I put our complete trust in my Mayo Clinic transplant team," says McGuire. "I know if my doctors tell me to do or not do something, it's important."

"I've put both of my hearts into my business and I hope to live a long time and end my life in the business that I built," he says. "But I'm a changed man and no longer take a healthy heart for granted."

During his sickness, hospitalization and convalescence, McGuire has become an accomplished needle-pointer. In fact, many of his closest friends have received hand-stitched ornaments for several Christmas' running. "Stitching is fun and relieves stress. It's a pastime my heart appreciates," laughs McGuire.

Because of Mayo Clinic's life-saving heart transplant, this grateful patient can say "Meet me at Butch McGuire's."

Butch enjoyed another ten years with his family and his place in the Chicago community after his heart transplant. We consider ourselves lucky to have known him.