It’s been a troubling day for U.S. Senators.
Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) checked into a hospital yesterday for observation of a heart condition, according to a statement released by his office today.
Warner, who was hospitalized last fall for a trial fibrillation — an irregular heartbeat — experienced a return of the condition and was admitted to Inova Fairfax Hospital for a “re-evaluation and readjustment of medications which require regular monitoring,” the statement said.
And:
Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia was hospitalized Tuesday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after complaining of back pain after a fall at his home, his spokesman said.
Byrd, 90, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the nation’s longest-serving senator, was staying in the hospital overnight for observation, said spokesman Jesse Jacobs. It was not immediately clear whether he had suffered broken bones.
Jacobs said Byrd fell at his Virginia home Monday night. He came to his office Tuesday and was on the Senate floor to vote for an Indian health bill. But after noticeably wincing in pain, Byrd’s staff advised him to see the Capitol physician, who “smartly for a 90-year-old man advised him to go to Walter Reed for observation.”
Warner has already announced his retirement. Byrd is serving, I believe, a term that doesn’t end until 2013. I wish them both good health.
On Warner, that’s “atrial fibrillation” not “a trial fibrillation.” My dad had that. It’s serious. He’ll be in the hospital for at least a week and he may never be quite the same again, depending on what caused it (how serious a heart attack he had, even if he didn’t know it.) But he could be fine – Like Dick Cheney. Over time, they should be able to get his heart into a normal rhythm again.
isn’t short term memory loss a common side effect of that?
It depends on the cause of the irregular heartbeat and how long it took you to get help. Like having a stroke. Damage is done to the brain and it gets worse if you don’t get it fixed quickly.
I’m not envying the staff of either hospital trying to keep those 2 warhorses ‘resting’.
Come to think of it, it would be sweet to see Byrd endorse Obama – or has he already?