For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 29, 2001
Statement by the Vice President
The James S. Brady Briefing Room
9:32 A.M. EDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Good
morning. I wanted to take a minute this morning to spend a
little bit of time explaining -- since there is so much interest in my
health -- that I'm going to undergo a test tomorrow at George
Washington University Hospital. It's called an
electrophysiology study. It specifically is performed for
the purpose of determining the perspective risk for me going forward,
in terms of abnormal heart rhythms. For
somebody with my background and record, with respect to coronary artery
disease and previous heart attacks, there is that possibility of
abnormal heartbeats. And about two weeks ago we did a test
-- it's, in effect, an electrocardiogram that you wear for a long
period of time -- the testing period is about 34 hours over a
weekend. And it detected some minor periods, very short
periods, one to two seconds each, of rapid heart rate.
I can't feel anything when it happens; I'm
asymptomatic, nothing shows externally, with respect to
that. But it does raise the possibility that I may need to
have implanted, sort of, I think of it as a pacemaker-plus. It's
something called an ICD, an implantable cardioverter defibrillator.
We've got a press here shortly that will explain all these terms for
you. It's a pacemaker-plus, it goes under the skin and is wired into
the heart, and it has the ability to monitor your heart rhythms and if,
in fact, you develop an irregular rhythm, then the ICD acts to correct
it and to restore a normal rhythm. I expect
this -- I look on this as an insurance policy. It may never
actually be needed but, if it is, then it's obviously the right thing
to do to have it implanted. The device, itself, is good for
about five to eight years before it needs to be
replaced. About 100,000 of these procedures are done every
year around the country. As I say, when I go
in tomorrow, the first thing we'll do is the test. And assuming the
test shows what we think it will show, then we'll go forward and
actually implant the device, as well. I would
expect to return home tomorrow afternoon. It is basically an
outpatient procedure. I will be sedated during the time of
the procedure, but to return home tomorrow night. And I
would expect to be back at work on Monday, if everything goes as
planned. This is unrelated to the stent
process that we went through earlier this year. And once
we've completed the procedure tomorrow, then we'll arrange for a
briefing by my doctors to answer questions about the procedure,
itself. Q Mr. Vice
President, can you continue in your current job with this
procedure? And do you have any long-term doubts about your
ability to remain Vice President? THE VICE
PRESIDENT: No, I have no long-term doubts. The
doctors have assured me there's no reason why either the procedure or
the device that's being implanted should in any way inhibit my capacity
to function as the Vice President.
Q And how about the health of your heart,
continuing? THE VICE PRESIDENT: I
am, as everybody has known for a long time, been living with coronary
artery disease for nearly a quarter of a century now. That's
nothing new, and my capacity to function in this job, if the doctors
ever conclude I can't, obviously I'd be the first to step forward and
say so. That's not in my interest or anybody else's interest
to have me continue in the job if I were not capable of preforming
it. And so I'll follow my doctor's advice in that
regard. But they've assured me there's no reason why this
procedure or the device, itself, should in anyway inhibit my ability to
continue to preform as Vice President.
Q Did you discuss it with the
President? And did you decide to come out yourself and
explain it all because you think misinformation might have been
around? THE VICE PRESIDENT: I did
explain it all. I discussed it with the President on Tuesday
this week, that this was a likely course of action. And he encouraged
me to go forward and do the procedure. I also -- I thought
it was important to come down, because there obviously is great
interest, for understandable reasons, in the health of the Vice
President. And we've had enough experience now that sometimes
misinformation does arise, and there's intense speculation, and
everybody sort of goes into a high hover.
Q It has nothing to do with your views on
conservation? (Laughter.) THE VICE
PRESIDENT: It has nothing to do -- (laughter) -- well, I
don't know. Somebody suggested maybe we need to put one of
those vampire savers on the pacemaker -- (laughter) -- to make certain
that we didn't use too many watts. But it's battery
operated, and as I say, I've been told it's --
Q We thought the vampire slayer was coming out
here. THE VICE PRESIDENT: I'm told
it's already an energy efficient device. It runs for five to eight
years, without having to replace the batteries.
Q Mr. Vice President,
how often have you been getting these tests? Was this the first test
that showed some irregular heartbeat? And how have you been
feeling over these past -- THE VICE
PRESIDENT: I've been feeling fine. As I say, I'm
oblivious to these incidents when they occur, and they only last one or
two seconds. It's just a short period of time where there is a rapid
heartbeat, and then it stops. And I had one of these -- it's
called a Holter monitor that you wear, I mean, literally, they wire you
up for an EKG, an electrocardiogram, and you wear a little recording
device on your belt and wear that around for, in this case, I think I
did it for 34 hours. I had done one of those
years ago -- must be eight or 10 years ago, now. But this is
the first one I had done recently. It was routine,
precautionary step that my kind of record calls for, which is why the
doctors recommended I do it. And as I say, we did it two
weeks ago and, based on those results, think there is enough evidence
there to warrant this more intrusive study tomorrow. But
assuming the study confirms what we've seen here, then the decision
will be made to go forward with the ICD, and I expect that will be the
case. Q Mr. Vice
President, sir, have you felt any pain at all in your chest or your
shoulder since the last -- THE VICE
PRESIDENT: None. I exercised this morning for 30
minutes on my Schwinn Airdyne bicycle, as I do several times a
week. I've experienced no symptoms of any kind.
Q Have you talked at
all with the President about the possibility of resignation and how
that would be handled? THE VICE
PRESIDENT: No.
Q Have you had this kind of conversation with
him? THE VICE PRESIDENT: No, we
haven't. Q Mr. Vice
President, can you understand how, while you say these are unrelated,
that Americans may be concerned that since last fall you have had more
frequent incidents of blockage and now this irregularity, that it may
be a sign of the deepening of your coronary disease, that may be
related to stress or your age and weight, and all these things coming
together that's making this problem for you more frequent?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, no, I've
-- it's obviously a question I asked my doctors, in terms of what this
might signify going forward. But, as everybody knows, my
history of coronary artery disease goes back to 1978. My
entire career in politics, in elective office, in Congress, in the
Defense Department, eight years in the private sector and now as Vice
President has all taken place after the onset of coronary artery
disease. It's something you live with and
it's my great good fortune that the technology has gotten so good that
it's kept pace with my disease, if you will, so we've been able to
manage it through the years. And as I say, if there were any
inhibition on my ability to function, if it were the doctors' judgment
that any of these developments constituted the kind of information that
indicated I would not be able to perform, I would be the first to step
down. I don't have any interest in continuing in the post
unless I'm able to perform adequately, and the doctors have assured me
that is the case.
Q Can I just follow up? With every
medical procedure, there is always the possibility of complication and
there is always some risk. Have your doctors explained to
you what the potential complications are and what the potential risk
is? And what are they? THE VICE
PRESIDENT: Well, you mean if the device goes off, what
happens? Q During the
procedure that we'll see tomorrow. THE VICE
PRESIDENT: Well, the risks are minimal. The
actual test, itself, involves going into a vein in the
leg. This is a procedure I've had done numerous times in the
past, where you go in and down -- the catheterization procedure
actually goes into an artery in the leg. This will be a vein
in the leg. And they insert a couple of small, fine wires up
into the heart and then run some tests. And based on that,
then make the decision about going forward with the implant.
It requires a local anesthetic and, as I say,
mild sedation. You do not go under a general
anesthetic. And, at the same time, if you then decide to
proceed here, it's just really an incision in the skin under the
shoulder here and implantation of this device that's about two inches
by two inches and about half an inch thick under the skin of your
shoulder. It's a very common kind of
procedure. The risks, I think, are minimal, although I can't
say it's absolutely without risk; but to say this is done about 100,000
times a year, I'm told, around the country.
Q Is this something, Mr. Vice President, that
would be done for any person in your situation, or are your doctors
recommending this because you're Vice President?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I asked
them that. I said, look, if I were a retired government
bureaucrat, and not Vice President of the United States, is this
something you'd recommend? And they said, yes, it is.
Q Mr. Vice President,
I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand exactly how you came to learn of
this latest problem. If you could just explain that a little
bit better? THE VICE
PRESIDENT: Yes, it's laid out in some detail in this press
release we're about to pass out to everybody that's prepared by my
doctors, that explains it. I went through a routine test of
wearing a Holter monitor. That's an EKG that you wear for a
period of time, in this case about 34 hours, and then they take that,
analyze the data. And that indicated that I should go
forward with this more thorough and comprehensive test that we'll do
tomorrow, where we actually insert wires into the vein. And
then assuming that shows what we think it will show, then we'll go
forward with the implant. But again, as I say, this is all
laid out in here.
Q Why did they decide to put the harness on
you? What made them think that there might be something --
THE VICE PRESIDENT: For somebody
with my history, it's good preventive medicine.
Q But you hadn't done
it in several years. I wonder why they decided now you --
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think
the docs had recommended that I do this. I postponed it for
several weeks, until I had a weekend when I was going to be home, and
it was easy to do. There is no sense of urgency about it, or
anything like that. There is nothing -- as I say, I'm
asymptomatic, I didn't even feel it when I had these episodes.
Q Has your family
expressed any concerns about your health -- your wife -- have they
expressed concerns about you continuing in your job?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, they are
obviously always interested in my health, which I appreciate very
much. But they're also very supportive, and they know that I
get first-rate medical care, I've got great doctors. And as I say,
they've learned to live with it, too. I realize, for a lot
of people, this can be somewhat stark information, perhaps, but on the
other hand, this has been a fact of life in my family for a generation
now. As I say, we've learned to live with it and cope with it and get
on with life. And that's what we're about.
Q Any constraints on
your behavior, beyond coming back to work on
Monday? Anything in terms of your diet, your exercise
regimen? Any restrictions? THE
VICE PRESIDENT: No, I'm following a fairly rigid diet that's
maintained by the Navy stewards out at the house. And as
I've said before, my wife is in charge of my food supply. We
don't get into that in any great detail. But -- and I
exercise regularly. We've got a lot of facilities out
there. None of that is influenced by any of
this. As I said, I exercised this morning, and followed my
regular regimen. Q Are
you on Medicare? THE VICE
PRESIDENT: In addition to that -- I'm not on Medicare, no.
(Laughter.) It's Blue Cross, Blue Shield. And
with respect to after the implant goes in, I'm restricted for a short
period of time, in terms of upper-body exercises, in that location
where they actually put the implant in, until that all heals
up. But those are the only limitations.
Q What was the
President's reaction? THE VICE
PRESIDENT: The President's reaction was -- he wanted to know
the specifics and the details, which I gave him, and strongly
recommended that I go forward and do the procedure.
Q A couple of
questions, Mr. Vice President. One, given this reality of
your coronary disease as it now exists, does it appear to you
unreasonable to look down the road and see yourself serving as Vice
President in a second Bush term, if that occurs? And,
secondly, given this, would you be more willing now to release both the
details of some apparent weight loss and other results of tests and
cholesterol levels and whatnot? THE VICE
PRESIDENT: Well, I, on the latter point, with respect to my
health, we have released vast quantities of information and continue to
do so. And, as I say, tomorrow the docs will be out to brief
again after we go through all the procedures.
I'm convinced that we have, in fact, provided an enormous amount of
information to the press and to the public. I've got to
believe I'm the most prominent, probably most thoroughly analyzed heart
patient in America today. And from the
standpoint of service in a second Bush administration -- and I do
expect there will be a second term for the President -- that's
something that he hasn't asked me about and I haven't talked to him
about. I would expect he'll make that decision before the next
convention, as to whether or not he wants me to
continue. But that will be his call. And if I'm
in shape to do it, and if my health permits, then I'd be perfectly
happy to serve. But, as I say, he'll have to make that call
and it's a decision that's several years away.
Q Mr. Vice President?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir.
Q Just to clarify
something. When you go through these tests, tomorrow, if the
tests confirm what your doctors previously suspect already, will the
implantation be done tomorrow, or is that a later date?
THE VICE
PRESIDENT: Yes. No, it will be done -- my
expectation is, we'll do the test tomorrow. It will probably
affirm what we already think we know. And that will lead,
then -- we'll immediately, at the same time, go right on into the
implant, tomorrow. They're saying I'll be home tomorrow
afternoon. There is a possibility, once you
get in and do the test, that you conclude that these are false
readings, or that this isn't exactly the right treatment, given that
situation. But we won't know that for sure until we
test. But I think the odds are fairly small that we would go
do the test and not do the implant.
Q When this recorder that picked up the rapid
heartbeat, was there any connection to the incidents? Were
you doing -- was it during exercise, et cetera?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: No, what you
do, when you do one of these Holter monitors, you get a minute by
minute log, really, that you keep during the course of the
day. When you're exercising, you note when you start
exercise, when you quit exercising. If you're swimming, or
riding a bicycle or working at your desk, climbing stairs, all of that
gets recorded minute by minute. And then when they sit down
and analyze the tracings that you collect, they do it against that log
of activity. Q Was
there any common thread? THE VICE
PRESIDENT: No, none. So in other words, it's not
related to physical activity, doesn't appear to be, and just occurs
occasionally. I think four times over the course of 34
hours. That's in the press release. They say it lasts for one or two
seconds at a time. So there's no outward manifestation of
it. I'm totally unaware of it when it happens.
Q Mr. Vice President,
you said this was not connected to the stent procedure. Have
your doctors indicated how that's holding up, and whether in a few
months you might have to have that replaced or repaired at all?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: The general
assessment is, the stent procedure has held up very well. At
the time that we went in and re-did it the second time, earlier this
year, the expectation was there was about a 40 percent probability that
we might have to go back in and do that again. We're now past the time
when that's much of a factor. There's always
the possibility you're going to have to go do it again, but the
likelihood has dropped significantly, once you get beyond about the
four month point. That would be a good question to ask Dr.
Reiner tomorrow, who will give the brief on that. But as I
say, this is unrelated to that procedure.
Thank you all very much. THE
PRESS: Good luck. THE VICE
PRESIDENT: Thank you.
END 9:50
A.M. EDT
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