February 12, 2010 5:44 PM
- Text
Bill Clinton: "I Feel Great"
A day after undergoing a procedure to open a coronary artery with two stents, former President Bill Clinton declared "I feel great."
Chatting with reporters outside his home in Chappaqua, New York, Mr. Clinton said he felt the energy come back once his clogged artery had been opened.
He told reporters he already did a couple of miles on the treadmill – but walking, not jogging, on doctors orders.
He said they also told him not to lift anything over ten pounds during his recovery period.
Dressed casually in an open leather jacket, and looking as if he had just gotten a haircut, the 42nd president said he had been under additional strain since the earthquake in Haiti a month ago today. "I've been working a lot without sleeping much," he said.
He first noticed something might be wrong about four days ago.
"I felt just a little bit of tingling, not pain. No grabbing in my chest and I thought I ought to check it out."
He said its "miraculous what they do with the stents" to open up blocked arteries. He said he did not receive a sedative and was awake during the procedure yesterday afternoon at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.
He spent the night in the hospital and was discharged this morning.
Mr. Clinton was adamant in telling reporters that he doesn't intend to give up the work he does for his philanthropic foundation or as United Nations envoy to Haiti.
"I have to keep working. It's what I should do. That's what my life is for."
Bill Clinton Home after Heart Procedure
Doc: Clinton "Not Out of the Woods"
Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here. You can also follow him on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/markknoller.
Chatting with reporters outside his home in Chappaqua, New York, Mr. Clinton said he felt the energy come back once his clogged artery had been opened.
He told reporters he already did a couple of miles on the treadmill – but walking, not jogging, on doctors orders.
He said they also told him not to lift anything over ten pounds during his recovery period.
Dressed casually in an open leather jacket, and looking as if he had just gotten a haircut, the 42nd president said he had been under additional strain since the earthquake in Haiti a month ago today. "I've been working a lot without sleeping much," he said.
He first noticed something might be wrong about four days ago.
"I felt just a little bit of tingling, not pain. No grabbing in my chest and I thought I ought to check it out."
He said its "miraculous what they do with the stents" to open up blocked arteries. He said he did not receive a sedative and was awake during the procedure yesterday afternoon at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.
He spent the night in the hospital and was discharged this morning.
Mr. Clinton was adamant in telling reporters that he doesn't intend to give up the work he does for his philanthropic foundation or as United Nations envoy to Haiti.
"I have to keep working. It's what I should do. That's what my life is for."
Bill Clinton Home after Heart Procedure
Doc: Clinton "Not Out of the Woods"
(CBS)
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Mark Knoller Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent.
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