Source: John Edwards has life-threatening heart condition

Source: John Edwards has life-threatening heart condition. We’re not buying it. People that use their spouse’s terminal illness to launch presidential campaigns -while simultaneously making babies with their floozie mistresses- don’t have hearts.

This post was last modified on January 13, 2012

Kip Hooker:

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  • The summary posted here is genius. Overall I feel no pity. Am I a bad person? So be it. It is what it is. If he is sick well it is what it is and if he isn't and is doing it to avoid punishment pretty boy better be ready because something bad is going to happen to him soon enough. He needs to stop he is a menace to his family.

  • Are we even sure that this Tin Man even has a heart? Maybe the judge should ask to see the EKG and talk with the cardiologists

    • I have CAD (coronary artery disease) and that did not prevent MY Federal prosecution or incarceration. I even had another heart attack while in a federal work camp, underwent surgery to implant 5 stents and was released back to the camp the following day where I was expected to go back to work the day after, doing hard physical labor. I did it, he can too. I am not in any way famous or powerful or have powerful and influential friends. Edwards is just a p*ssy.

      • " I am not in any way famous or powerful or have powerful and influential friends."

        There's your problem, right there. If you had the right friends, you never would have gone to prison. Look at Uncle Onyango. Funny, I went to Google "Obama Uncle" to get the correct spelling, and the first two pages of Google using that search, every single article was about how the arresting officer has had 9 accidents. Not a thing about the uncle, or his illegality.

      • In my state, they only go when there is an acute flare-up. The goal for chronic conditions is not to normalize, but to prevent it from getting into an acute exacerbation or keeping the chronic condition form getting worse. Medical staff will only send the offenders to an outlying hospital when there is enough objective data to confirm the need for acute intervention.

        Of course, without knowing what his "life-threatening heart condition" is, it's hard for me to make a determination as to whether management is possible. I do know that CHF pts are hard to manage at times, but it can be done.

        Edwards may be having a valve repair. Or he could be getting a pacemaker or defibrillator. But we may never know, due to HIPPA.

        • In my state, they only go when there is an acute flare-up.

          All they gotta do is say they are having chest pains. And if any of them has had a previous MI, the Cardiologist will probably request an annual stress test on the patient, chest pain or not.

          • That happens here too sometimes and it certainly guarantees a trip to the HC Unit. Most of the time a trip to the ER happens because of untrained staff who cannot assess for an MI properly. Prev heart disease, age, DM, fam hx, as well as present VS and EKG changes.

            Most of the time here, they go to the ER get some enzymes drawn. If the Trop is (-), they send them back and advise a stress test. In some instances, paying for the stress test becomes cheaper than the continued trips to the ER. About half of them refuse to go on the day of their appt, because it was a hassle.

            Some of the extreme cases end up in a cath lab. But once the cath shows clean coronaries, the game is over.

            So let me ask you, what percentage of your prison pts presenting for cardiac treatment, actually get diagnosed with CAD or other cardiac conditions?

          • We don't really keep statistics on one population verses another. Prison patient vs general population for example. At my hospital though, it seems most results are normal or fixed defects, but a fair number do show new and reversible ischemia. My guess would be somewhere around 20% are possitive for ischemia. Of course I've seen many who have have ekg changes during the stress or experience chest pain and/or pressure during the stress and then the images come out just as pretty and perfectly normal as they could be.

            Yep, Labs are drawn, Trops, CPK's as well as Ca, Mg, K, Na levels being checked. +trops...straight to cath. Abn Ca, Mg, K, or Na...stress canceled. **For those outside of healthcare...CPK's early indicator for heart attack (MI...myocardial infarct), Trop's late indicator for heart attack. Elevated CPK's and Trop's indicates death of muscle tissue.**

          • When one considers a pt that is over 50 and has been incarcerated for many years, eating greasy prison food most of his adult life, it's a wonder there aren't more cardiac disease. I have known of some older guys about to get out in a year or two, after a long stretch, and boom. Sudden cardiac arrest or some serious ischemic CMO s/p MI.

          • You have to remember that stress tests are like a screening for CAD, (a tool if you will)it isn't perfect. The artery has to be greatly occluded before we can see anything wrong. (Roughly 70% occlution.) If a reversible defect is found then the patient is sent for a Cardiac Cath. Sometimes if the patient has other risk factors as those you listed earlier, Fm Hx, smoker, diabetes, prev MI, etc., and the patient has symptoms during the stress,(cp, ekg changes) they most likely will still be sent for a Cardiac Cath even if the images are normal.

          • Thanks drb, I work in EP. We frequently need to get pts cathed. When I am trying to encourage a pt to get a cath, I tell them it is the only diagnostic tool that can say for a certainty if they have CAD...or why the pt has new onset A Fib. I know all about false negatives and false positives in stress tests too.

            Like everyone else, I would be interested to know what Edwards' actual condition is in relation to how his legal team is presenting it. All cardiac is potentially life threatening, but outcomes are far greater than most lay people realize. Edwards appears to be otherwise healthy, so whatever they are going to do will likely carry the least amount of risk among the population. (I remember the early days when about half of the cath pts died, when angioplasty came out, and way before ICDs were an option.)

            Still, with that in mind, I never cease to be amazed at people with an EF of 15% expect to be healed instantly after having a BiVent placed. One wife called a week later after her husband's implant and said he's still tired all of the time.

          • My dad had an EF of 10%. He lived in New Orleans, lived hard and fast. Never bothered to tell me when he was in the hospital until he was out. Had a hunting trip planned when he died at the ripe old age of 64.

            He was different though. He hated the sick role.

            POW in Korea, he always said he wouldn't live in a nursing home in a wheelchair with a foley bag hanging on the side of it. And, he made sure of it.

          • I recently had a pt with an EF of 9%...talk about Lazarus! He couldn't understand why he kept passing out if he stood up for too long. It's sad.

          • I should say: it’s a wonder there ISN'T more cardiac disease. (Olivia may come along and make me an offender for a typo.)

  • He's just trying to stretch it out long enough so he dosen't spend too much time in the slammer before "Dear Leader" pardons his ass. But if he does have a heart condition, I hope it's nothing trivial.

  • You notice how all these sleazeballs say they have a fatal disease to keep from going to prison? Kinda like that Airplane bomber terrorist that got sent home from Ireland cuz he had prostate cancer? Well,,,,he's still alive and looks quite healthy. Edwards, I say you're bullshitting everyone.

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