Health Care

Cherishing life as a healthy grandfather

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Bob Cullenbine first came to Palo Alto in 1960 to attend Stanford University, and he has been there ever since, always with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) as his health care provider. "I’ve enjoyed good health for most of my life," he said, "but in October 2002, I had a heart attack and almost died. And that changed everything.

"I went back to work and I thought, 'What is your life like? What can it still be? What opportunity have you been given here?' I never thought I'd live to be very old. I didn't think I'd live to be 40, and here I am at age 65. So after my heart attack I decided to change the way I live. I've lost weight. I eat well. I go to exercise classes three times a week at the Cardiac Therapy Foundation. I had a lot of stress in my work, so I cut back on my work commitments."

Since 1997, Bob has worked with The Family Giving Tree, a nonprofit organization founded by his daughter, Jennifer. Every year, he helps to distribute holiday gifts to more than 50,000 disadvantaged children. "This is important work, and I need to stay healthy to do it," he said. "My family really cares about me, so if I can get excellent health care and stay alive longer, that's a good thing. Now, I care about living."

Bob's experiences have given him a much deeper understanding of PAMF's role in the community. He noted that, because PAMF is a major regional medical facility, people often overlook the fact that it operates on a not-for-profit basis. "Look around, and you'll see that many communities are losing their doctors and medical facilities," he said, "and the government is unable or unwilling to do anything about it. So it's essential that people in our community step in and help out."


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