Spokesman: Johnson Did Not Have Stroke Or Heart Attack

[Purveyor]

Spokesman: Johnson Did Not Have Stroke
- By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, December 13, 2006


(12-13) 16:20 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --


A spokesman for Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson said the politician did not suffer a stroke or heart attack, contrary to initial reports after Johnson was taken to a Washington hospital, weeks before his party was to take control of the Senate by a one-vote margin.


Johnson, who will 60 on Dec. 28, became disoriented during a conference call with reporters at midday Wednesday, stuttering in response to a question. He was taken to George Washington University Hospital, where doctors were evaluating his condition.


Spokeswoman Julianne Fisher said he then walked back to his Capitol office but appeared to not be feeling well. The Capitol physician came to his office and examined him, and it was decided he should go to the hospital.

He was taken to the hospital by ambulance around noon, Fisher said.


URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/12/13/national/w162040S94.DTL

[Virginia Dare]

1. Thank God...n/t

[liberalhistorian]

22. Yes, indeed, very welcome news. He is my senator,

and a damned good one; he's also a very good man personally. I previously worked with an attorney in Rapid City (at the legal services agency I used to work for) whose husband is the regional legislative representative for Johnson. I'm planning on calling her tomorrow and asking for specifics of what is really going on.

He is soooo much better than our idiot junior repuke (with the emphasis on PUKE) senator, John Thune, Bushbot extraordinaire, our very own Norm Coleman, as well as a major, huge, big-time hypocrite and a blatant credit-grabber. Even when he and Johnson work on something together, he tries to take ALL of the credit for it. Prayers for Johnson, my ass. I bet he's dancing down the hallway of his office and jumping for joy. Why, why, why, why, WHY is it always the GOOD guys things like this happen to?

[FairVotes4all]

69. There is no comparison between Thune and Johnson

I am a highschool student. When Thune agreed to talk to my govt class, he did not maintain eye contact with anyone and treated me snobbishly when I asked a question. A year later, at a Democratic get-together to meet the canidates, Johnson, along with the local canidates all treated me courteously and with respect. Not to mention that Thune knocked the minority leader out of office, calling Daschle's clout bad, and now he's whoring being (one of 17) deputy minority whips.

[papau]

27. I hope all is wel 0 but staff refuses to say he can converse or is awake and no coma

Of course coma but alive means he keeps his seat and Dems keep control - a harsh way to look at it, but I was watching Hardball and that is how they are talking.

[iam]

73. If you thank god for good news

whom do you blame for bad news? Who do you blame for his initial troubles? God? Satan? Bad luck? You remind me of those silly athletes who wait for the referee, after signaling touchdown, to point to the lord in thanks for six points. Truth be known, you should neither thank god or blame god, simply accept, and try to understand, the "laws" of Nature.

[Virginia Dare]

76. Okay, thank nature then...

:eyes:

[lapfog_1]

2. CNN just said the same thing.

but it also reported that aids say the senator experienced weakness in his left arm as well as disorientation. So... what are the other possible diagnosis?

[Purveyor]

4. Thats were I got the tip-off. My heart stopped for a moment

waiting for them to provide the details.

[sillyphoenix]

21. As a certified EMT...

If I got a call to the Capitol for a man with weakness in the left arm and disorientation, I would immediately suspect either a TIA (a small, transient stroke) or a minor heart attack. Both are almost always survivable, but the Senator will probably have to take meds for his condition for the remainder of his time on Earth.

I'd be more worried about the Senator resigning than dying.

[Gelliebeans]

53. Will they put him

on blood thinners and wait take a look and see attitude?

[guruoo]

25. This guy I work with had the same symptoms...

right before he took a header onto the floor behind the sales counter.
An angiography revealed that the arteries in his neck
were clogged, which caused his brain to be starved for oxygen.

[sillyphoenix]

26. ouch

Did he turn out okay? Well, besides the inevitable bruise on the head?

[MGD]

40. "So... what are the other possible diagnosis? "

TIA- a transient ischemic attack or "a mini stroke". Not an uncommon thing at all and not technically a stroke. A blood clot, possibly from an episode of atrial fibrillation seems very possible too although this would be an ischemic type stroke. The weakness lateralized to the left side, however, definitely suggests some form of ischemic event in the right cerebral hemisphere. The disorientation would not be inconsistent with cerebral ischemia especially when presented alongside the left sided weakness.

[HappyWeasel]

46. what would this mean?

[MGD]

58. It's too soon to tell for sure.

He sounds to be plenty stable which is always a good sign. Apparently, the weakness was lateralized to his right side, not his left side as a previous poster mentioned which makes more sense to me as this would suggest left sided ischemia which would be much more consistent with the language deficits he presented with initially. Left sided cerebral ischemia tends to manifest as right sided weakness and language/speech deficits. Langage deficits are, in fact, the hallmark sign of right sided strokes. He was able to walk back to his office which suggests that he wasn't having a major CVA type crisis hich bodes well for him and for us.

Edit: He has a history of prostate cancer as well. It is possible that there is some kind of metastatic brain disease i.e. a tumor causig these symptoms. I'm hearing that he's in surgery now. I was thinking that he sounded pretty stable but I'm not sure now.

[xchrom]

3. hopefully he will be and remain well.

[rzemanfl]

5. If they took Shrub to the hospital everytime he stuttered in

response to a question, he'd be there most of the time.

[Nihil]

17. That's the counter-attack

"Bearing in mind that even with a possible temporary incapacity this congressman is
still more articulate and coherent than the president, do you (=republicans) really
want to address his inability to hold office?"

Think about it guys.

[cassiepriam]

6. What happens if he cannot serve in office? What are the possible ramifications?

[bbinacan]

7. I believe that

the governor, who's a Repub, can appoint a replacement. Let's hope that doesn't come about.

[cassiepriam]

20. :( yes nt

[mod mom]

39. On Countdown they said if he dies then a replacement can be made by the R

governor but if he is ill, he can remain if he chooses.

[FairVotes4all]

70. Dont even say that!

Govenor Rounds is the biggest Republican shill you'll find outside of DC... I shudder to think of who he'd appoint.

[liberalhistorian]

75. If worse comes to worse, and I don't even want to

think about that right now, one of the few bright spots might be that the SD Dem party is stronger and more unified that it's been in decades and we picked up more seats in the legislature last month, while kicking a lot of the social conservative neanderthals out on their asses where they belonged. I think we're in a much better position to demand that Rounds appoint a Dem and we have enough leadership and clout to keep the pressure on him to do so. Rounds is basically a wimpy chickenshit who does not at all like any kind of controversy or confrontation, which will work in our favor.

[Name removed]

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[OhioChick]

9. I wish the Senator well.

Maybe this was a transient ischemic attack? :shrug:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

10. Or a myocheneyal infarction.

:shrug:

[Rex]

11. This will be a Fox/Cnn newshitstorm.

Someone jumped the gun, leave it to the M$M.

[BklnDem75]

12. That will certainly upset the ghoulish pro life party.

Ventured to that site and couldn't believe how many were hoping for the worse.

[raysr]

13. There're probably all praying

they're stinking christian asses off he dies. Pat Robertson will be leading the prayer.

[NovaNardis]

14. What site

Be you talking about?

[BklnDem75]

16. Free Republic

Now I need to wash my hands...

[MGD]

23. Actually, I thought they were being surprisingly civil about it all.

Maybe we were looking at different threads? :shrug:

[BklnDem75]

50. How many pages did you read?

The first couple were prayers, then they became prayers and 'he should resign and spend time with his family' then 'he should be replaced with the runner up from the last election.' Actually heard a few 'serves them right's in there.

[MGD]

55. Guess I didn't read far enough into the thread. nt

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

15. I suspect a TIA, or transient ischemic attack

We'll see. David Shuster was just scaring me on Olbermann by saying the spokespeople aren't saying whether or not the senator is conscious. Get well soon, sir!!

[MGD]

19. TIAs are frequently an ominous sign of things to come, things like a major CVA.

That's definitely something to be thinking about.
edit spelling

[liberalla]

32. RE: Olbermann / Shuster report

Made me nervous too. They made it sound very serious. They said when he returned to his office (after the stuttering episode on radio) he was unable to move or speak for a time... and then the lack of comment on his being conscious or not?

My hope is for a quick diagnosis with a clear treatment plan and full recovery.
Best wishes to the Senator and his family!

[MGD]

18. Can you imagine what would happen if a Republican Governor undid the national election results?

I don't even want to think about it. This illustrates how tenuous our actual grip on the reigns of power is. That obviously needs to be addressed.

[Pachamama]

36. It also would finally knock the message loud and clear that it DOES MATTER what party your Gov

belongs to!

Governors have a lot more power than people realize.....

[CTyankee]

41. Tell me about it! I kept trying to tell this to people in our race in CT

Sigh. Why do otherwise good people keep voting Republican?

God, I am tired of these people. My very good friend and travelling companion in Italy this fall voted for Gov. Rell, a Repub. over our New Haven mayor, John De Stefano. Oh, no, she couldn't vote for John, had to vote for Rell. I just had to stifle myself, as Archie Bunker would say. Oh god...

[VegasWolf]

24. Some of the FReaks are already calling this the will of GOD!!!

They say what the voters want matters not to what GOD wants!!!

[liberalhistorian]

30. Well, as a South Dakotan, I'm afraid that's

just what I'm going to start hearing soon, especially since he didn't support the abortion ban bill. Never mind that you can't get the SD legislature to give a shit about doing anything for people, especially women and children and education, abortion and gay marriage is all they give a shit about right now. Fortunately, a lot of the social conservatives who were running amok during last year's session were voted out and replaced with Dems or moderates, so hopefully things just may be a bit different during this next session. Although I wouldn't put it past them to try to start up another abortion bill again.

And a lot of them are really bitter about the ban's defeat and continue, nearly two months later, to screech and holler and rant and rave about it, so I expect we'll be hearing real soon about how it's Johnson's punishment for not supporting the abortion ban bill.

[VegasWolf]

34. Yep! Gota do what Falwell et al says or GOD will gitcha! nt

[minnesota_liberal]

47. Anyone who thinks God willed this is a blithering idiot. (n/t)

[HappyWeasel]

48. ....or belongs in the psychiatric hospital.

[liberalhistorian]

28. What I want to know is why there

isn't a specific requirement that a senator/congressman's replacement must be from the same party, regardless of what party the governor is from. That should have NO bearing on an appointed replacement. The people elected a rep from a particular party and THAT is the party the replacement should be from, I don't give a damn what the governor's party is. This goes for repub reps with Dem guvs as well as Dem reps with repub guvs.

Gov. Rounds is a republican. Should the worst happen, God forbid, his party membership shouldn't matter, any replacement for Johnson must be a Dem because THAT is what the people elected. It just really, truly pisses me off to think that his replacement could be a repub just because Rounds is a repub. And I'm sure the same is true for repubs who lose a rep and have to deal with a Dem governor naming a replacement.

If it seems that it's a bit too personal for me, then that's because it likely is. Johnson is my senator and a damned fine one, he makes having to put up with the puke Thune a little easier. The thought of TWO Thunes (because too many SD repubs are Thune clones) is just a bit too much.

[VegasWolf]

29. States rights. That used to be something the Republicans believed in before

:puke:Bush!!:puke:

[liberalhistorian]

31. Oh, they still pay lip service to it.

But that's all it is, lip service. Of course, I'm a federalist who believes in a strong, central federal government and who has little patience with states rights purists, so I'm probably not the right person to be talking about that.

And anyway, it really doesn't have much to do with state's rights. It's just a matter of appointing a replacement rep from the same party the resigned/incapacitated/deceased rep is from and NOT from the party of the governor. The people elected a rep from a particular party and the governor's party should have fuck-all to do with it, no matter what party it is.

[VegasWolf]

33. but, but, isn't that advocating a FEDERAL policy! BTW, I agree that is how it

should be done!

:toast:

[mcscajun]

45. Yet the specifics of such appointments, and the powers each state's Governor has,

are set by the voters of each state, not by any political party or by the Federal Government.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

37. There should be no debate

Just as Larry Craig would have a Repub replace him if he can't serve, then a Democrat must replace Johnson if he cannot continue. We better not see any double standard on this garbage.

[mcscajun]

44. The standards are set by the individual states and which powers

they give to their Governor.

[mcscajun]

43. State laws vary on the power each Governor has over this type of appointment

The governor’s direct authority to make interim appointments is specified in the various state laws. Oregon and Wisconsin do not allow the governor to make interim appointments, requiring, instead, a special election to fill any Senate vacancy. The State of Oklahoma also requires that Senate vacancies be filled by special elections, with an exception. If the vacancy occurs after March 1 of any even-numbered year and the term expires the following year, no special election is held; rather, the governor is required to appoint the candidate elected in the regular general election to fill the unexpired term.

At least five states restrict the governor’s power to appoint interim Senators. Alaska, Arizona, and Hawaii require the governor to fill Senate vacancies with a person affiliated with the same political party as the previous incumbent. Utah and Wyoming require the governor to select an interim senator from a list of three candidates proposed by the state central committee of the political party with which the previous incumbent was affiliated.

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/Vacancies.pdf

[Recursion]

72. Because parties have 0 Constitutional status

And for that matter a "two-party" system is the sort of thing most of the framers wanted to avoid.

The Senate itself is explicitly designed to over-represent rural people; this would just be a spectacular example of that.

[Name removed]

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[FredScuttle]

42. Can we now stop the appeasement of Joementum?

His alleged "leverage" was always a bluff. Now, if we lose this Senate seat, it's non-existent. Kick the fucking loser to the curb!

[Olney Blue]

49. Harry Reid went to visit him in the hospital- at the link below.

http://www.kfmb.com/stories/story.73568.html

[IndianaGreen]

51. My thoughts and prayers are with Senator Johnson and his family

from what MSNBC was saying, it sounds like a brain aneurysm, a life-threatening condition.

[goforit]

52. I hope no one tried anything mischevious.

[riverwalker]

54. He will be ok

Old neuro nurse here. I want to just to reassure everyone. The fact that they are already saying it was not a stroke, means they did CAT scans and a MRI and did not show any bleeding or large clot. Sounds as if he had a TIA, a Transient Ischemic Attack. Either a teeny tiny clot or spasm caused part of his brain not get enough blood, just for a moment (ischemia). It resolves quickly on it's own, and that's why it's called "transient". But initially you don't know for sure that it's not a stroke that could progress, so thats why they do all the testing. If it were a large clot, and a stroke, there is only a hour or two window to get "clot busters", thats why they acted so quickly.
He could possibly go home tomorrow. He will take blood thinners to prevent a recurrance. Keep praying.

[rcdean]

59. Is TIA usually the result of afib? n/t

.

[kskiska]

56. Josh Marshall Update - doesn't sound good

December 13, 2006 -- 10:40 PM EST // link)

Another update on Sen. Tim Johnson's condition. Earlier we passed on the statement from the senator's office that tests showed he had not had a stroke or a heart attack.

However, CBS now has a report out which repeats that statement and then follows with this: "Sources close to the situation tell CBS News the situation is definitely not good."

I'm way out of my depth here in terms of what other conditions could be in play if it's true that a stroke has been ruled out. But the additional line from CBS is both ambiguous and ominous.

From what I can tell CBS is the only news outlet reporting something like this in the background. There's no point in my speculating. I'll just pass it on. We'll try to bring you more as we hear it.

-- Josh Marshall

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/011554.php

[Tess49]

57. Heard on Anderson Cooper that the Senator is in surgery.

[Bumblebee]

60. Yes, it was an official hospital statement this time. It said that his

illness was "stroke-like" and he was currently in surgery. Very brief and terse.

[IndianaGreen]

61. This doesn't sound good at all.

:grouphug:

[Bumblebee]

64. No. There are ways to reassure people when someone is in surgery

like "his life is not in danger" -- but they didn't do that. It is obviously quite serious. We have been lucky in the past two months -- hope our luck holds...

[Tess49]

62. I keep wondering if he has a carotid artery occlusion. Perhaps

they are doing an endarectomy (sp). A procedure where the artery is cleaned out. Plaque is removed to restore blood flow to the brain.

[in_cog_ni_to]

63. Oh dear. They must know what's wrong if he's in surgery. The silence is deafening.

:( If it wasn't serious, we'd know that by now.:cry: I so hope he's OK.

[Kadie]

65. From The CNN Wire - Sources: S.D. senator undergoing surgery at Washington hospital

Wednesday, December 13
POSTED: 11:13 p.m. EST, December 13, 2006

Editor's Note: The CNN Wire is a running log of the latest news from CNN World Headquarters, reported by CNN's correspondents and producers, and The CNN Wire editors. "Posted" times are Eastern Daylight.

Sources: S.D. senator undergoing surgery at Washington hospital
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota was undergoing brain surgery Wednesday night at George Washington University Hospital after being hospitalized earlier in the day due to stroke-like symptoms, two Democratic sources familiar with his condition told CNN.

Johnson, 59, was taken to the hospital Wednesday morning after he appeared to suffer stroke-like symptoms, although a spokeswoman for the senator said subsequent evaluation showed he did not suffer a stroke or a heart attack. Staffers told CNN Johnson was conscious when he was transported to the hospital.

Johnson spokeswoman Julianne Fisher said the senator was in the Capitol Wednesday morning conducting a conference call with South Dakota reporters when "his speech pattern slipped off."

Fisher said the senator was able to walk back to his office in the Hart Senate Office Building, then began having problems with his right arm. He thought he was all right, she said, and went to his desk, but came out a few minutes later and "it was apparent he needed help." (Posted 11:13 p.m.)

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/12/13/wednesday/index.html?section=cnn_latest

[MonkeyFunk]

66. Is

a brain tumor a possibility?

[Bumblebee]

67. so it's probably either aneurysm or his cancer came back and lodged in

his brain as well. Not good. No wonder the silence has been so ominous.

[CBHagman]

68. This was the most recent account on CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/13/johnson.stroke/index.html

[truthisfreedom]

74. The audio is very upsetting. They have a snippet of his radio interview while he began to show

symptoms of confusion and stuttering. Don't listen if you're sensitive like me.

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/POLITICS/12/13/johnson.stroke/Johnson.mp3

[Name removed]

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