Pray For Tim Johnson (Updated)
Tim Johnson, the senior Senator from our neighbor South Dakota, has taken ill and may have suffered a stroke:
Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S. D., has been hospitalized with symptoms described as stroke-like. The seriousness of his illness has not been disclosed. ...Johnson became disoriented during a call with reporters at midday, stuttering in response to a question. He appeared to recover, asking if there were any additional questions before ending the call.
Johnson spokeswoman Julianne Fisher said he had walked back to his Capitol office after the call with reporters but appeared to not be feeling well. The Capitol physician was called and Johnson was taken by ambulance to the George Washington Univeristy Hospital in D.C. for evaluation.
A statement released by Johnson's office said, "Senator Tim Johnson was taken to George Washington University Hospital this afternoon suffering from a possible stroke. As this stage, he is undergoing a comprehensive evaluation by the stroke team. Further details will be forthcoming when more is known."
MS-NBC then goes into detail as to what this might mean politically, which I will not even mention. Strokes are no longer always the catastrophic event that people think, and "stroke-like symptoms" can appear even without actually having a stroke. It could come from an acute diabetic attack, or from what is known as a TIA or transient ischemic attack.
The First Mate had one the week before her last kidney transplant, and it scared the hell out of me -- it looked exactly like a stroke. However, she recovered within a couple of hours, although the hospital kept her under observation for a few days. Harry Reid also had a TIA, in August 2005. He also fully recovered within days.
So skip the calculations and the political fallout from Johnson's ailment. Let's just pray he'll fully recover and continue his representation of his constituents in the Senate. If that's not the case, we can do the math when it becomes necessary.
UPDATE: Better news -- looks like doctors have ruled out a stroke. They still don't have an explanation of the event yet, but hopefully it will be nothing more serious than an allergic reaction to something in the environment.
UPDATE II and BUMP: Bad news; the situation was more serious than people initially let on. Johnson had to undergo surgery overnight, which tends to indicate a serious stroke:
Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson underwent surgery after being hospitalized with symptoms of a stroke just weeks before his party, with only a one-vote majority, was to take control of the Senate.The nature of the surgery or the South Dakota lawmaker's condition was not known early Thursday.
There was no formal announcement of the operation, which lasted past midnight Wednesday and was disclosed by an official who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitive nature of the subject.
This became known a little while ago, and so far we have no report on the results of the surgery. Keep the family in your prayers.
Posted by Ed Morrissey on December 14, 2006 5:08 AM | Comments () | TrackBacks (12)
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