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CNN Live Saturday
Vice President's Cheney Heart Operation Is a Success
Aired June 30, 2001 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: We begin with the operation on Vice President Dick Cheney this morning. The vice president was outfitted today with a chest implant to control an irregular heart rate. Doctors say the procedure went exceedingly well, exactly as planned.
Mr. Cheney is expected to be released from the hospital later this afternoon, and President Bush said he is counting on the vice president resuming his normal schedule, and in fact, he'll be back at work on Monday, if all goes as planned. The president spoke with Mr. Cheney about an hour ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I don't think he ought to slow down. I think he ought to listen to his body, and I think he ought to -- which he has been doing. I think he ought to work at a pace that he is comfortable with. And I know Dick Cheney well, and if I were to say, you've got slow down, Mr. Vice President, he's going to say, "forget it."
He's got a job to do, and he is a valuable member of my administration. He and his doctors made the right decision, and I -- I'm told he's going to be back to work Monday morning, and I look forward to seeing him in the Oval Office Monday morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NELSON: Now, for a quick recap and the latest on the vice president's condition, here's CNN medical correspondent Rea Blakey who is at the George Washington University hospital -- Rea.
REA BLAKEY, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Brian, we're told the vice president's prognosis is absolutely excellent. The doctors who spoke to the press conference today were pretty much beaming, for the most part. They are very excited about how well the procedure went. They said the vice president when they left him was sitting up having lunch -- shrimp salad, they indicated -- and that he was doing quite well and he was expecting a call from the president, which you obviously just reported on.
The vice president arrived around 8:00 this morning. He looked in good spirits, didn't seem to be at all anxious about the upcoming procedure. The procedure itself was called an electrophysiology study. It lasted about 30 to 35 minutes, during which electrophysiologists, specialized doctors, induced an arrhythmia in the vice president's heart. What they did was really test the electrical system of the vice president's heart.
They wanted to do that on purpose, under very controlled circumstances, to try and determine -- it was a diagnostic test -- to try and determine whether or not he needed that implantable defibrillator. After inducing the arrhythmia, once they did, in fact, implant a defibrillator, called a Medtronic Gem III DR.
That device actually will function in two different ways, we're told from the news conference here. It will provide a stimulus, if in fact, the vice president's heart beats too fast, which is called tachycardia, which is perhaps the most dangerous type of abnormal arrhythmia. And if it beats too slowly, which is somewhat unlikely, but if it does, this particular device will kick in and regulate the heart as well. Doctors will monitor it all along.
The doctor -- the vice president's cardiologist, Dr. Jonathan Reiner indicated that this was all very much a proactive measure.
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DR. JONATHAN REINER, GWU HOSPITAL: This device really is an insurance policy. And I think as we move forward, you know, I have every expectation that he will continue to function in the capacity he is now. I would be the first to tell the vice president if I thought otherwise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLAKEY: We are told the vice president was given Tylenol for pain relief, that pretty much that he would be asked to sit up in his chair in his hospital room, that he would walk down the hallway and that he would be released later on this afternoon, that he could continue his exercise regime, which entails about 30 minutes of exercise three to four times a day. The vice president had said earlier this week that he uses a Schwinn AirDyne. However, any rigorous exercise that involves the upper body should be discontinued for a couple days, because a pocket was developed to slide the device inside the vice president's chest wall.
We're also told, however, that any concerns about magnets perhaps triggering this device would be minimal. The use of a cell phone -- apparently, the vice president was instructed -- should be done to the opposite side of where the device was implanted. So, implanted on the left, cell phone should be used on the right. Other than that, his only real concern, they tell us, might be triggering airport magnet detectors -- or metal detectors, rather -- which apparently the vice president doesn't really have to be concerned with these days, as long as he has the entourage that he does -- Brian.
NELSON: Thank you. CNN's Rea Blakey in Washington, thank you.
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