Posted on 03/29/2004 8:05:08 PM PST by Shermy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, who will undergo minor shoulder surgery on Wednesday, faces a politician's worst nightmare while recovering -- no shaking hands.
"I think initially we'll have him avoid handshaking," said Dr. Bertram Zarins, who will perform the outpatient surgery at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital.
"But as he feels the strength improving, and when he tries to shake a hand if it doesn't hurt, then I think it's alright for him to do it," he said in a conference call with reporters.
Kerry, who will challenge President George W. Bush in November, hurt the sub-scapularis tendon in his right shoulder when he braced himself for an abrupt bus stop while campaigning in Iowa in January.
After the 45-minute surgery Kerry will be in a sling for a day or two, Zarins said, and is scheduled to be back on the road early next week. But he will have to be careful when tending to the typical campaign duty of shaking hands.
"It's not going to be an absolute avoidance. I think within two or three weeks he'll be shaking hands, but there may be a limit to how many hours he can do it," Zarins said.
But he said there was little chance that a vigorous well-wisher could re-injure the shoulder with a hearty shake.
"I don't think so, I think if this happens it will be from too much handshaking, not from one hand shake," he said. "So if the shoulder starts getting sore he'll just have to back off."
(while still married to the long-suffering Joan, of course).
ROFLOL!
Really! What makes you think so?
Meanwhile, I see her taste hasn't improved:
Eco Ski Dancing with Senator Frank Lautenburg - Chairman of the Senate Committee for the Environment
Seems to me he has the Al Bore thingy.......excessive hand washing and fear of infection.
Remember how our boy Al would take numerous showers a day and had his special soap to wash hands every hour or so.
We've been making "Why the long face?" jokes about Kerry around here for a while, but Kerry's face really does exceed the norms for Caucasian males. I've been wondering if Kerry has Marfan's syndrome for a while. They keep having him trying to "look" athletic, but it just doesn't work.
Here's a little info on Marfans.
- People with the Marfan syndrome are typically, but not always, very tall or taller than unaffected people in their family, slender and loose jointed. The Marfan syndrome affects the long bones of the skeleton. Therefore the arms, legs, fingers, and toes may be disproportionately long in relation to the rest of the body. A person with the Marfan syndrome often has a long, narrow face, and the roof of the mouth may be arched, causing the teeth to be crowded. Other skeletal abnormalities include a sternum (breastbone) that is either protruding or indented, curvature of the spine (scoliosis), and flat feet.Another indication of Marfans is that the joints tend to be fairly loose and dislocate. What was he in the hospital for this last time, according to his campaign?- Most people with the Marfan syndrome have problems associated with the heart and blood vessels. The valve between the left chambers of the heart is defective and may be large and floppy, resulting in an abnormal valve motion when the heart beats. In some cases, the valve may leak, creating a "heart murmur," which a doctor can hear with a stethoscope. Small leaks may not cause any symptoms, but larger ones may result in shortness of breath, fatigue and palpitations (a very fast or irregular heart rate). Because of faulty connective tissue, the wall of the aorta (the large artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body) may be weakened and stretch, a process called aortic dilation. Aortic dilation increases the risk that the aorta will tear (dissect) or rupture, causing serious heart problems or sometimes sudden death.
Let me reemphasize, I have absolutely no inside info on Kerry. However, his appearance, his frequent hospital visits, the refusal of his campaign staff to release medical information on him, and the almost desperate attempts to make him look athletic just don't add up to a healthy candidate.
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