Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman has released a letter from his doctor stating that the Democratic nominee for Senate can resume campaigning in the highly watched senate race after he suffered a stroke.
Mr Fetterman’s campaign released a letter from Dr Ramesh Chandra of Alliance cardiology on Friday saying that he saw Mr Fetterman in a follow-up appointment after his stroke on 13 May.
Dr Chandra said he first saw Mr Fetterman at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center East in 2017 when he experienced swelling in his feet.
“That is when I diagnosed him with atrial fibrilation, an irregular heart rhythm, along with a decreased heart pump,” he said. Dr Chandra said that he prescribed medications, told Mr Fetterman to change his diet and to follow up in a few months.
“Instead, I did not see him again until yesterday,” Dr Chandra wrote. “John did not go to any doctor for 5 years and did not continue taking his medications.”
Mr Fetterman admitted to his poor health practices in a statement.
“Like so many others and so many men in particular, I avoided going to the doctor, even though I knew I didn’t feel well,” he said.
Mr Fetterman said that he thought exercising and losing weight would be enough to combat his health issues.
“Of course it wasn’t,” he said. “I didn’t do what the doctor told me. But I won’t make the same mistake again. Taking care of others is important but you must include yourself in there too.”
“As my doctor said, I should have taken my health more seriously. The stroke I suffered on May 13 didn’t come out of nowhere. Like so many others, and so many men in particular, I avoided going to the doctor, even though I knew I didn’t feel well. As a result, I almost died. I want to encourage others to not make the same mistake,” he added in the statement.
Dr Chandra said that Mr Fetterman has a pacemaker now and is stable.
“The prognosis I gave for John’s heart is this: if he takes his medications, eats healthy, and exercises, he’ll be fine,” Dr Chandra wrote. “If he does what I’ve told him, and I do believe that he is taking his recovery and his health very seriously this time, he should be able to campaign and serve in the US Senate without a problem.”
Mr Fetterman suffered a stroke just days before the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, when he beat Representative Conor Lamb and the state legislator Malcolm Kenyatta. Mr Fetterman will face either television host and physician Dr Oz or businessman Dave McCormick, depending on who wins a too-close-to-call Republican primary.
The Senate race will determine who will replace retiring Republican Senator Pat Toomey.
