Bianca Castro

Humor Can Heal, Says Frisco Heart Patient

A Frisco man dealing with heart problems uses his recovery to help others and it's bringing other patients lots of laughs and smiles.

Joe Marlowe, 61, says his passion is in making people laugh. 

He's performed as a stand-up comedian for 25 years, but after a church mission trip to Peru where he met his wife in 2011, he started having chest pains. His doctors gave him quadruple bypass surgery. 

He recovered and seemed fine up until December 2018, when his interventional cardiologist, Dr. Chadi Dib, discovered Marlowe had 100 percent blockage, and his heart was operating at 25 percent functionality. 

"He got so much better after that stint was done, but I am glad that we found him at that time," said Dr. Dib.

He spent hours doing cardiac rehab at Baylor's Heart Hospital in Plano so he was in good enough shape to have surgery to implant a defibrillator. 

Now, after surgery and recovering nicely, he performs stand-up gigs for the staff and patients at cardiac rehab.

Why? To make people smile.

"I will probably go home and take a nap after this because I'm at 25 percent heart function, but I'll take a nap and I'll go terrorize someone else this evening!" said Marlowe.

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