Fetterman’s cardiologist says candidate has heart conditions

By Dan Merica | CNN

John Fetterman’s cardiologist said Friday that the Democratic Senate candidate suffers from both atrial fibrillation and cardiomyopathy, issuing a statement that provides more insight into what caused the Pennsylvania lieutenant governor’s stroke in May.

Dr. Ramesh Chandra said he first saw Fetterman in 2017, when he reported having swollen feet. He said he diagnosed him with “atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm, along with a decreased heart pump.” Although he advised him to follow up in the coming months, the doctor said Fetterman did not and “did not go to any doctor for 5 years and did not continue to take his medications.”

Chandra said Fetterman is “well compensated and stable” after receiving a defibrillator that he said “is working perfectly.” The doctor added that it was the cardiomyopathy, a condition that makes it harder for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body, that was the reason the device needed to be implanted.

“The prognosis I can give for John’s heart is this: If he takes his medications, eats healthy and exercises, he’ll be fine,” 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 U.S. Senate without a problem.”

The letter comes weeks after Fetterman checked himself into a hospital in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on May 13 as he was on his way to a campaign event. He was found to have suffered a stroke and doctors used a thrombectomy, a procedure where doctors enter the body through the groin and wind catheters up to the clot, to address it. Fetterman won the Democratic Senate primary on May 17 while in the hospital and underwent a nearly three-hour surgery that same day to implant the defibrillator. He was released from the hospital on May 22 after a nine-day stay.

Fetterman, in a statement released in conjunction with Chandra’s letter, acknowledged that he “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,” he said. “I want to encourage others to not make the same mistake.”

Fetterman said he “didn’t follow up” because he thought “losing weight and exercising would be enough” to address his heart issues. He admits he was wrong, saying that the stroke he suffered was “completely preventable” and that his doctors have told him that if he had “continued taking the blood thinners, I never would have had a stroke.”

“It’s not something I’m proud of, but it is something I hope that others can learn from,” he said. “So please: listen to your body, and be aware of the signs. Because ignoring them — and avoiding the doctor because you might not like what they have to tell you — could cost you your life.”

Fetterman said that his doctors have instructed him “to rest, eat healthy, exercise, and focus on my recovery” and, because of that, it will “take some more time to get back on the campaign trail like I was in the lead-up to the primary.”

“It’s frustrating — all the more so because this is my own fault — but bear with me, I need a little more time. I’m not quite back to 100% yet, but I’m getting closer every day,” he said. “This race is so important for Pennsylvania and for the country. I’m going to be ready for it, and I can’t wait to get back on the trail.”

Fetterman had previously said that the stroke was “caused by a clot from my heart being in an A-fib rhythm for too long” and that his doctors were “able to quickly and completely remove the clot, reversing the stroke, they got my heart under control as well.” Fetterman also said his doctors had told him he didn’t suffer “any cognitive damage” and that he is “well on my way to a full recovery.”

After that statement, Fetterman’s campaign announced he had undergone the “standard procedure to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator” and his wife, Gisele, told CNN on May 18 that the new implant would “make sure it’s the strongest heart possible” after it was “weakened” by his irregular rhythm.

Fetterman was the favorite to win Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate nomination months before he suffered the stroke. And the stint in the hospital didn’t dim those chances: Fetterman, from his hospital bed, easily defeated US Rep. Conor Lamb in the commonwealth’s Democratic Senate primary.