Sen. John Fetterman, who has been in the hospital for five weeks with post-stroke depression, is anticipated to return to Capitol Hill “soon,” according to his office’s statement on Thursday. However, no precise timetable was given.
The 53-year-old Pennsylvania Democrat had a stroke while running for office in May of last year, and on February 15 he booked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after starting to experience depression, a frequent side effect of stroke recovery.
A Fetterman spokeswoman did not specify when he is anticipated to return to work.
“He’ll be back soon, at least over a week, but soon,” Joe Calvello said on Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “We want to give him the space to recuperate. He needs it, it’s fair, it’s right. There are other people in the Senate who have taken their time to recuperate but I’m confident he’s going to come back and be an outstanding and fine senator.”
Sen. Bob Casey, a fellow Democrat from Pennsylvania, claimed to have heard from Fetterman’s staff that the senator has made “good progress,” but he hasn’t personally talked with Fetterman out of concern for the man’s wellbeing.
He said he is happy Fetterman is given the time he needs to rehabilitate even if he doesn’t know when Fetterman will return.
Most people realize that these things don’t happen over the course of two or three weeks; they take a bit longer, Casey said. “I’m just happy he’s getting the time that he needs,” Casey added.
It was mentioned last week that it may take up to two more weeks for physicians to get his medicine “exactly right” before he could be freed.
When Fetterman was taken to Walter Reed, he had been in office for just over a month. His employees said that he wasn’t acting like himself. Instead of his usual banter with the assistants, he was distant and lost interest in eating and conversing.
Dr. Brain Monahan, the Capitol’s medical expert, examined the new senator and suggested that he seek treatment at Walter Reed.
According to Calvello, Fetterman has received daily personal briefings from his chief of staff while he is being treated at the military hospital. While receiving treatment, he kept on sponsoring bills and making remarks through his office.
Although recuperating from a severe stroke in the hospital, Fetterman took first place. In order to control his heart, physicians operated on him and inserted a pacemaker and defibrillator.
Then, in one of the nation’s most costly and highly watched Senate elections, he defeated Republican television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz.
