Ventura Will Remain Hospitalized

Gov. Jesse Ventura will remain in a Minnesota hospital until doctors are sure a blood clot in his lung has dissolved, spokesman John Wodele said Wednesday.

Earlier, he had said the governor might leave the hospital as soon as late in the day Wednesday

Ventura canceled public appearances for the week but was "alert, wide awake, happy and eager to get beyond this," Wodele said at a news conference.

He was admitted to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale on Tuesday after waking up with chest pains and was given blood thinners to dissolve a reoccurring blood clot in his lung.

Lt. Gov. Mae Schunk was back in Minnesota on Wednesday after flying back early from California, where she had been attending an education conference. Ventura didn't plan to hand over power.

"He's in complete control of his faculties," Wodele said.

A blood clot ended Ventura's wrestling career in the mid-1980s. He was hospitalized in intensive care for six days in 1985, and was treated with clot-busting medication.

In a 1998 interview, Ventura described the experience as the lowest moment of his life, noting that he was forced to miss a big payday against fellow wrestler Hulk Hogan. He attributed the clot to too much flying in the weeks before it developed and said that afterward he made it a point to get up and walk around on long flights.

Ventura, an independent who stunned the political world with his election in 1998, said last month he would not seek a second term this fall. When he made the announcement, he said his heart was no longer in the job and that he was tired of criticism of his family.

"You know you've got to have your heart and soul into these jobs," Ventura said last month of his decision not to seek a second term. "You've gotta want to do it."

According to the Mayo Clinic, about 600,000 Americans experience a blocked artery in their lungs each year. Symptoms vary greatly, but common ones include chest pain, bloody cough, excessive sweating, rapid heartbeat and lightheadedness.