Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman (D), Democratic candidate for an open U.S. Senate seat, disclosed new information about his health Friday after being hospitalized for a stroke last month.
His campaign published a letter from his cardiologist who said he diagnosed Fetterman with atrial fibrillation and decreased heart pump in 2017.
“I had prescribed medications along with improved diet and exercise and asked him to follow up again in the following months,” Dr. Ramesh Chandra wrote. “Instead, I did not see him again until yesterday. John did not go to any doctor for five years and did not continue taking his medications.”
“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 added. “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.”
Fetterman was hospitalized days before the Pennsylvania primaries. He won the Democratic contest easily, and Republicans David McCormick and Mehmet Oz are still duking it out for their party’s nomination while the state conducts a recount to determine the winner.
Fetterman attached a statement to the doctor’s letter.
“As my doctor said, I should have taken my health more seriously,” he said. “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 that he’s “not quite back to 100 percent yet,” and that it’ll “take some more time to get back on the campaign trail like I was in the lead-up to the primary.”
