I pray this hero is blessed with continued endurance and healing.
Posted on 10/12/2010 8:02:32 AM PDT by STARWISE
Former Vice President Dick Cheney is rebounding from five weeks in the hospital this summer, and plans about 10 stops on the speaking circuit in coming months – along with some hunting trips as well, according to friends.
Cheney spent much of the summer at Inova Fairfax Heart and Vascular Institute, a stay that was prolonged by a bout of pneumonia. He had a left ventricular assist device implanted, a pump that is used in dire cases, and that can be used as a bridge to a heart transplant.
The former vice president hasn’t decided whether to seek a heart transplant, friends said.
“It was a tough summer, and very serious surgery,” said daughter Liz Cheney, who is collaborating with her father on his memoirs. But, she said, Cheney is “doing really, really well.”
“The technology is amazing, and he’s the toughest guy you'll ever meet. He's got his strength back, is loving hanging out with the grandkids, planning his next hunting and fishing trips, finishing his book and getting back engaged in the issues the country’s facing,” she said.
Dick Cheney plans a book tour when his memoirs are released, likely next summer, the friends said. He has booked about 10 paid speaking appearances between now and the end of the year, and plans several quail- and pheasant-hunting trips to South Dakota and south Texas this season
Cheney, who turns 70 in January, has struggled with heart disease since 37. He made news over the weekend following a joint appearance this weekend with Lynne Cheney, his wife of 46 years.
The Bakersfield Californian reported that nearly “10,000 people crowded into the Bakersfield Business Conference's main tent” to see the Cheneys.
A picture caption by the Bakersfield newspaper described Cheney as “frail-looking,” and former co-workers remain worried about his health.
Cheney needed to lose weight but lost more than he might have liked in the hospital. He lost around 25 pounds, but now is building back muscle strength.
The title for the memoir has not been announced. Much of the book is in editing, although Cheney is adding a passage about his heart surgery, and is still writing some parts that deal with the Bush administration.
The book includes humor and a little score-settling, along with an epilogue that warns of the continuing threat that radical Islam poses to the United States.
The Bakersfield trip was Cheney’s second appearance in a week. Earlier this month, he spoke in Colorado Springs to the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers.
On their road show, the Cheneys are using a format similar to their town halls during the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign of 2004: She asks him lighter – often humorous — questions, prompting him to tell stories from over the years, then he takes questions from the audience. His topics include the first Gulf War, and his memories of 9/11.
The Cheney were at their McLean home most of the summer, but now are starting to return to their pattern of splitting their time among homes on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and in Wyoming.
Lynne Cheney is still working on a book on James Madison. The couple is spending time with their seven grandchildren, including a recent trip to see 4-year-old Richard Perry, the vice president’s namesake, play a soccer game.
The Cheneys saw a movie recently, and go out to restaurants on the Eastern Shore, including the upscale Mason’s, in Easton, Md.
Cheney has been reading the memoir by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, “A Journey,” and Nathaniel Philbrick’s “Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn.”
Cheney is also sorting flies, hoping to get back on the river to go fishing
I pray this hero is blessed with continued endurance and healing.
.. Ping!
Amen and amen.
Amen and amen.
Amen and amen.
Amen and amen.
Amen and amen.
Amen and amen.
Amen and amen.
Amen and amen.
Amen and amen.
May God bless and strengthen this dear man!
Thanks for the ping, STARWISE.
Under Obamacare Cheney would be expendable; i.e., too old to qualify for a heart transplant.
And is Carter the Democrats’ Cheney?
Anyone heard if he’s dead yet?
Cheney will live forever.
God bless VP Cheney and his family. We are blessed that a man of his character is there for us. ( wish him a complete recovery with many years ahead both as a spokesman for conservative causes and as a family man enjoying his wife, daughters and grandchildren.
Yes.. very much so.
VP Cheney will always have my best wishes, prayers and appreciation.
God Bless Dick Cheney.
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