President Bush rests comfortably after surgery to implant pacemaker in brain

Steve Schear schear at lvcm.com
Thu Aug 2 19:27:00 PDT 2001


President Bush rests comfortably after surgery to implant pacemaker in brain
Posted on Friday, July 13 @ 09:34:24 EDT
By Tom McNichol, Salon

WASHINGTON -- In the second White House health scare in little more than a 
week, doctors Wednesday night implanted a sophisticated pacemaker in 
President Bush's brain. The device, known as an implantable cranial 
defibrillator, or ICD, continuously monitors and records the president's 
brain waves. When Mr. Bush's brain activity becomes dangerously slow for a 
chief executive, the device delivers a mild electric shock, jolting the 
president back to a relatively active mental state. "I feel good," the 
president told reporters several hours after the operation. Bush then 
twitched noticeably. "I mean, I feel well," he said.

Doctors say the implant is performing flawlessly, although they're trying 
to limit the number of shocks Bush receives to fewer than 100 a day. The 
surgery came barely a week after Vice President Dick Cheney was fitted with 
a device to regulate his irregular heartbeat.

The White House portrayed last night's medical procedure as an "insurance 
policy" against further problems for the president. At a news conference at 
George Washington University Hospital, where the
operation was performed, doctors downplayed the seriousness of Bush's 
condition. The periodic electric jolts from the implant, physicians say, 
will have minimal effect on the president.
"His hair is not going to stand on end," said chief surgeon Dr. Alan 
J.Thayer. "Well, maybe a little."
The president, looking tired but fit after his operation, said that the 
device will help him function better as a world leader.

"The American people need to know that their president is equipped to 
handle a trouble spot like Slovenia," Mr. Bush said. "Serbia, I mean 
Serbia," he added, his head jerking violently.
Bush has an extensive medical history of moderately impaired thinking and 
reasoning, dating back to the 1970s. Doctors have long noted that the 
president's thoughts easily become confused, and that his public 
pronouncements often deteriorate into a tangle of mispronunciations, faulty 
logic and bad grammar. Although Bush's condition wasn't serious enough to 
prevent him from running for president, or from winning the state of 
Florida, doctors say his condition has deteriorated significantly in recent 
months. The president's brain wave activity dipped dangerously low during 
his recent trip to Europe, and stopped altogether at one point during a 
meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader was 
unaware of any change in Mr. Bush's condition, officials say.

Yesterday, the president's doctors subjected him to a battery of mental 
tests to assess his risk of developing a potentially fatal "zero brain 
wave" pattern. Once the risk was confirmed, surgeons decided to implant the 
electronic device, which acts both as a pacemaker and a defibrillator. The 
pacemaker component is programmed to speed up the president's thinking when 
it becomes abnormally slow. The defibrillator can shock his brain back to a 
normal state if Bush's thoughts become "too fast," although doctors say 
that the chances of that happening are remote.

The device that doctors sutured to the base of the president's cerebellum 
is known as a Medtronic Gem IV DR model. (There were some problems with an 
earlier model, which had to be recalled by the
manufacturer.) Such devices, once the stuff of science fiction, have become 
an increasingly common tool in modern neurology. Hundreds of prominent 
Americans have been fitted with so-called mental pacemakers in recent 
years, including actor Adam Sandler, TV personality Mary Hart, Yankees 
owner George Steinbrenner, singer Britney Spears, Rep. Gary Condit, 
D-Calif., former vice president Dan Quayle, and the entire board of 
directors of the now-defunct Pets.com. Some of those who wear a mental 
pacemaker expressed hope that the president's condition would raise public 
awareness about their circumstance.

"This may turn out to be a blessing in the skies for all of us," said talk 
show host Maury Povich, who was fitted with one of the first Medtronic 
devices four years ago. Mr. Povich trembled violently from head to toe 
before adding, "I mean disguise, disguise, for God's sake, turn it off."

Bush has been advised to avoid deep thoughts for a few days to give the 
device a chance to settle in place. Doctors say the president so far has 
cooperated fully with the recommendation. Bush has also been told to 
alternate holding his cell phone against his right and left ear so the 
implant receives equal doses of radiation from each side. And the president 
will have to run at full speed whenever passing through White House metal 
detectors.

Several congressional leaders privately expressed concern about the 
president's medical procedure, coming barely a week after Cheney was fitted 
with a device to regulate his irregular heartbeat.

But Bush dismissed the worries, stating that the Bush-Cheney team is "more 
fit than ever" to lead the country.

"You'll find no healthier duo than Dick Cheney and I," Bush said. The 
president hesitated, as if waiting for a signal, and when none came, broke 
into a toothy grin.





More information about the cypherpunks-legacy mailing list