Cheney Recovering From Heart Attack, May Go Home Today

Republican vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney, recovering from what doctors called “a very slight” heart attack, was feeling well enough Thanksgiving Day to have “turkey and all the trimmings” with his family, hospital spokeswoman Lisa Saisselin said Thursday.

Saisselin, speaking for doctors at George Washington University Hospital, where Cheney underwent treatment Wednesday to open a blocked artery, held out hope that he could be released within 24 hours.

“If Cheney continues to do as perfectly as he’s doing now, he could be discharged as early as [today],” she said.

Cheney has had three previous heart attacks and underwent bypass surgery in 1988. The fourth episode, though apparently very small, indicates he continues to suffer from heart disease.

Cheney was pronounced fit by his doctors last summer when he became Texas Gov. George W. Bush’s running mate on the Republican presidential ticket.

And officials in the Bush campaign, as well as Cheney himself, insisted the latest incident will not affect his ability to keep working now or in the future.

“We anticipate that he will continue to be available by phone, and the doctors have told us that there are no limitations,” Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes said. “He’s been involved in the conference calls and the decision making, and we expect that will continue.”

Lynne Cheney joined her husband in marking the Thanksgiving holiday, as did the Cheneys’ oldest daughter, Elizabeth, her husband, Phil, and granddaughters Kate, Elizabeth and Grace.

Cheney issued a statement saying they “appreciate all the kind thoughts and good wishes he’s received from Americans across the country,” and they wished “all Americans a happy Thanksgiving with their families.”

Cheney took a telephone call from his Democratic vice presidential counterpart, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut. Cheney aide Kathleen Shanahan said the two exchanged holiday good wishes, and Lieberman wished his opponent a speedy recovery.

After suffering his first three heart attacks and undergoing the bypass operation, Cheney went on to serve as secretary of Defense under President Bush during the Persian Gulf War and pushed a vigorous program of corporate expansion as CEO of the Halliburton Co., a oil-services giant based in Texas. He previously had won five congressional terms representing his home state of Wyoming.

On Wednesday morning, after experiencing chest pains, Cheney went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 90% blocked. They inserted a tiny medical device called a stent into the narrowed section of the artery to open it.

The stent, made of fine metal mesh, had a deflated balloon nestled inside it. Doctors moved the stent into position using a catheter, then pumped up the balloon to expand the metal lattice. That, in turn, pushed the plaque-coated walls of the artery farther apart and now holds them open.

Since the procedure does not require a general anesthetic and produces an immediate increase of blood flow to the heart, patients normally bounce back quickly, though doctors say Cheney has serious coronary disease, and he is expected to monitor his condition more closely in the future.

Some doctors praised Cheney’s quick action in going to the hospital as soon as he experienced chest pains. Politicians and others in the public eye sometimes hesitate to seek early medical treatment because they fear publicity will damage their careers, said Dr. Hugh Trout, a cardiovascular surgeon at George Washington University Hospital.

“How smart he was to go get help in these tumultuous times,” Trout said, suggesting Cheney may have saved his life by acting quickly instead of waiting until the problem got more serious.