Posted on 09/07/2004 7:22:12 AM PDT by meandog
NEW YORK (AP) — Former president Bill Clinton was described as doing well Tuesday, breathing on his own as he recovers from an operation to relieve arteries so severely clogged that they had posed imminent danger of a major heart attack.
He was taken off his respirator Monday night — a crucial step in his recovery, Bob Kelly, a member of Clinton's surgery team, said Tuesday.
"Everything is going very well," Kelly said on NBC's Today.
Clinton underwent the four-hour quadruple bypass operation Monday at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia. His heart disease was extensive, with blockages in some arteries well over 90%, doctors said.
"There was a substantial likelihood that he would have had a substantial heart attack," said Dr. Allan Schwartz, chief of cardiology. Doctors called Clinton's operation successful and said his return to full health will take weeks.
The former president also had high blood pressure and may not have been adequately treated for high cholesterol. His doctors said he was put on a cholesterol-lowering drug a few days ago. Clinton was prescribed cholesterol medicine in 2001 as he was leaving office.
"These past few days have been quite an emotional roller-coaster for us," Clinton's wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, said in a statement. "The president's optimism and faith will carry him through the difficult weeks and months ahead — of that we have no doubt."
The 58-year-old former president went to the hospital late last week after complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath, but doctors revealed Monday that he'd had these symptoms for several months. They said he had blamed them on lapses in his exercise routine and acid reflux.
It was finally discovered that the problem was his heart after one episode occurred while he was resting and lasted longer than before, they said. Clinton could leave the hospital in four or five days.
In bypass surgery, doctors remove one or more blood vessels from elsewhere in the body — in Clinton's case, two arteries from the chest and a vein from the leg — and attach them to arteries serving the heart, detouring blood around blockages.
Schwartz said it would be possible for Clinton in the future to lead an "extraordinarily active lifestyle" — including hitting the campaign trail.
Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood, chief cardiovascular surgeon at East Carolina University and a spokesman for the American College of Cardiology, agreed with Clinton's doctors that the president had been in a dangerous state leading up to the operation.
"Within the next couple of weeks, something was going to happen," he said.
Doctors delayed surgery until Monday because Clinton was on the blood-thinning medication Plavix, and waiting a few days decreased the chance of excessive bleeding, they said.
During the operation, Clinton's heart was stopped and he was put on a heart-lung machine for 73 minutes. That process, used for more than 75% of bypass patients, carries a small risk of stroke and neurological complications.
Clinton was described as upbeat in the days before the surgery, resting with his wife and daughter. One New York Post photo showed the former president reaching for a Boggle game near his hospital room window.
Clinton has blamed his heart problems in part on genetics — there is a history of heart disease in his mother's family — but also said he "may have done some damage in those years when I was too careless about what I ate."
He was lampooned during his presidency for his inability to resist fatty fast food, but he was also an avid jogger during his two terms in the White House. In recent months he has appeared much slimmer. He has said he cut out junk food, begun working out and adopted the low-carbohydrate, low-fat South Beach diet.
Clinton had planned to campaign for Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president, but the recovery from surgery will take him off the stump — at least for now — with just two months left until the election.
More than 45,000 get-well wishes have poured in for Clinton, including tens of thousands of e-mails sent to the Web site of his presidential library.
"You are surrounded by cherished family, friends and a nation that adores you and prays for your full and complete recovery," wrote Toni Maryanna Rossi. "You'll be jogging 5 miles a day in no time."
Contributing: Associated Press medical writer Marilynn Marchione in Milwaukee.
LOL...does that include Hillary (vomit) or just the hamburgers?
Here's one time he'll never say he didn't inhale!
I've been wondering, though, whether hillary would stand a chance without bill around ...
I have read that nose candy is a little rough on the ticker as well.
Liars. There was no "imminent" danger of a "major attack."
those years he was careless about what he ate....1947 - 2004?
Clinton's first words upon waking: "I WANT MAH SPONGE BATH NOW!!!!!"
I'd like to think that conservatives would be above making snarky remarks about a President's rumored drug habits, especially with Kitty Kelley's book out now.
They've used it against us; it is beneath us to stoop so low.
Where was that one written from? China? France? Swaziland?
Question to some of you med professionals out there: I notice that Viagra, Cialis, etc. caution against drug if user is on blood-thinner, BP meds, or nitrite...does this apply to heart by-pass patients too?
Once a horn dog, always a horn dog.
Hospital better protect the Nurse Interns
personally, I could not care any less about this piece of trash, bill clinton.
I care about as much about this "male whore" as I do about the health of a islamic terrorist.
Okay, let me rephrase.
I'd like to think that conservatives would be above making snarky remarks about a President's rumored coke habit, especially with Kitty Kelley's book out now.
It's beneath us. Just because they're trying to tarnish Bush with coke doesn't mean that we need to roll in the dirt as well.
His latest paramour tired him out!!!
> ... nose candy is a little rough on the ticker as well.
If the rumors of Clintons copious consumption of cocaine
are true, and he's continued the habit into recent times,
his recovery is jeopardized. He either has to risk
withdrawal symptoms, or risk the vasoconstrictive hazards
of continued use.
> ... conservatives would be above making snarky remarks
> about a President's rumored drug habits ...
Just setting expectations here. If the rumors are true,
the stats on recovery from bypass may be optimistic in
Clinton's case.
He is not out of the woods yet. I suspect only a fraction
of the mortality associated with this proceedure occurs
on operating day.
> ... heart-lung machine for 73 minutes. That process,
>used for more than 75% of bypass patients, carries a
> small risk of stroke and neurological complications.
Plus, with the "pump head" and clinical depression that
often accompanies the operation, he's not going to be
his usual cunning self for some weeks.
"You are surrounded by cherished family, friends and a nation that adores you and prays for your full and complete recovery"
Would that be "Alien Nation" perhaps?
Or excessive Viagra use.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.