AP Report on Sen. Johnson condition this morning 9:15 am

[TayTay]

WASHINGTON_U.S. Capitol physician says Sen. Tim Johnson underwent successful
brain surgery for an arteriovenous malformation, a condition which causes
arteries and veins to grow abnormally large.


I knoweth not what this means. I wish Sen. Johnson well and a full recovery.

[HereSince1628]

1. Is that medical talk for an anuerism?

[jgraz]

11. No, an aneurysm is a bulge in a blood vessel

This was a tangled mass of blood vessels.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

2. I wish him good health and good wishes to a speedy recovery.

And a thank you to the doctors. I have so much more respect for doctors and nurses now.

[davepc]

3. arteriovenous malformations

What are arteriovenous malformations?

Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are defects of the circulatory system that are generally believed to arise during embryonic or fetal development or soon after birth. They are comprised of snarled tangles of arteries and veins. Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to the body’s cells; veins return oxygen-depleted blood to the lungs and heart. The presence of an AVM disrupts this vital cyclical process. Although AVMs can develop in many different sites, those located in the brain or spinal cord—the two parts of the central nervous system—can have especially widespread effects on the body.

AVMs of the brain or spinal cord (neurological AVMs) are believed to affect approximately 300,000 Americans. They occur in males and females of all racial or ethnic backgrounds at roughly equal rates.

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/avms/detail_avms.htm

[jgraz]

7. Wait -- the BFEE changed his FETAL development??

Is there no limit to their power?

:tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat:

[napi21]

4. Sanjay Gupta said recovery from this is usually week or months.

He will probably need speech therapy, and not enough is known about his case to say exactly what a full recovery actually means.

[Ganja Ninja]

5. At this point I wouldn't be too alarmed about him being in critical

condition. It's pretty much the norm for someone immediately after brain surgery.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

6. There are so many variables to this scenario. Impressive that the diagnosis and surgery was done so

quickly, if indeed this is true.

It sounds as if he's in good physical condition, which will help with his recovery. An intangible will be his determination to recover quickly, in spite of extremely disheartening setbacks. Right now, my money's on the good Senator.

I wonder how soon the repubs will demand to know his level of "incapacitation" and make a grab for his seat. MKJ

[CTyankee]

10. Like what Dems did to Strom Thurmond.

NOT!:sarcasm:

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

14. LOL. I just saw another thread talking about others who have kept their legislative seats,

including a president, in spite of horrific illnesses or diseases. So, I'm a little less worried about that scenario, and Strom Thurmond is the benchmark example on the R side of things! MKJ

[wisteria]

8. Thanks for the update. I will say a little prayer for him.

The senator's health is more important than politics right now. I think it is terrible the way the media has been speculating and salivating over this story.

[Roland99]

9. Is there a link? You should post this in General Discussion, too!

[TayTay]

12. It was just coming across the wires from AP

I read it as realtime news and posted it. It was good to read something that had a name attached to it, instead of just idle speculation. This came out of the office of the US Capitol Physician.

It was just posted by someone else in GD. Thanks! :blush:

[TayTay]

13. More from DowJones on Sen. Johnson (names for docs.)

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)-- U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., was "recovering
without complication" early Thursday after undergoing emergency brain surgery,
Admiral John Eisold, the attending physician for the United States Capitol, said
in a statement released by Johnson's office.

The 59-year-old Democrat "was found to have had an intracerebral bleed caused
by a congenital arteriovenous malformation," his office said. "He underwent
successful surgery to evacuate the blood and stabilize the malformation. The
Senator is recovering without complication in the critical care unit at George
Washington University Hospital."

His office said it was premature to "determine whether further surgery will be
required or to assess any long-term prognosis."

Barbara Johnson, the senator's wife, said the "family is encouraged and
optimistic."

by writer Damian Paletta 12/14/06

[Lumily]

15. My husband had an ATV back in 1996.

He was 28. He came home from a soccer game, throwing up with a horrible headache, and he could not form sentences to save his life. He knew what he wanted to say, but couldn't put all the words together correctly. It was really scary, but we got to the hospital, and they found the ATV in the speech area of his brain.

He was extremely lucky in that the healthy blood vessels around his ATV sort of recognized the problem, and by-passed it naturally, and the ATV itself thrombosed ( I remember the doctor saying that) or strangled itself. He experienced a lot of pain, but the doctor told us he was very, very lucky and ATVs rarely are corrected without surgery.

Even though my husband completely recovered, he did have to go through about 3 months of speech therapy.

I remember his neuro-surgeon telling us that you're born with an ATV, unlike an aneurysm that can happen to anyone at anytime.

[high density]

16. CBS News link

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/14/politics/main2262908.shtml

Warning: They're really whoring hard for the GOP in this article.

[Thrill]

17. This is really sad news

He's such a young man.