Tim Johnson's Improving Condition

WaPo: Ailing Senator Issues Photos, Statement

WASHINGTON -- The first public photos of Sen. Tim Johnson since his December brain hemorrhage show him looking pounds lighter and sitting in a wheelchair. According to a spokeswoman, he now has limited use of his right arm and leg.

See all the photos on his website:

Senator Tim Johnson website

This must be a great relief to his family.

Sen. Tim Johnson Update

Good news again -- Senator Johnson has been discharged from the hospital into a rehabilitation facility.

WaPo: JOHNSON UPDATE

More than two months after suffering a brain hemorrhage, Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) has left a Washington hospital and entered a private rehabilitation facility, his office said yesterday.

NYTimes: Sen. Johnson Moved to Private Rehab Facility

NYTimes Caucus Blog: Johnson Leaves Hospital

Stories I Missed While I Was On Vacation

Photo via 750 Volts

The U.S. drop-shipped 363 tons of cold, hard cash, the long green, on pallets to Baghdad in the days before the Coalition Provisional Government turned the reins over to the Iraqis. That's 4 BILLION dollars in $100 bills for those of you keeping score at home, the largest ever shipment by the Federal Reserve Bank. Think about that when you're paying your taxes in April. Think harder about that when you're voting in November!

Boston freaks out over a guerrilla marketing scheme involving light boxes. Do terrorists usually put brightly colored lights on their bombs?

Tim Russert's reputation in tatters: Dick Cheney's press flack testifies that they go to Press the Meat so they can control their message (Timmuh won't ask any hard questions); Pumpkinhead himself testifies that all his conversations with government officials are presumptively off the record. As Dan Froomkin says, that's not reporting, that's enabling.

Joe Biden calls Obama "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy". Obama was not amused: "I didn't take Senator Biden's comments personally, but obviously they are historically inaccurate. After all, we've had presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Mosely Braun and Al Sharpton. They gave a voice to many important issues through their campaigns and no one would call them inarticulate."

Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) is reportedly reading news reports and doing some work from the hospital.

Creepy chuckle by Crawford Caligula, as UPI reports:

At a farewell reception at Blair House for the retiring chief of protocol, Don Ensenat, who was President Bush's Yale roommate, the president shook hands with Washington Life Magazine's Soroush Shehabi. "I'm the grandson of one of the late Shah's ministers," said Soroush, "and I simply want to say one U.S. bomb on Iran and the regime we all despise will remain in power for another 20 or 30 years and 70 million Iranians will become radicalized."

"I know," President Bush answered.

"But does Vice President Cheney know?" asked Soroush.

President Bush chuckled and walked away.

Senator Tim Johnson Update

This is excellent news:

WSJ: Sen. Johnson Begins to Say Words

Sen. Tim Johnson has been transferred to an in-patient rehabilitation unit for “aggressive” therapy, and has started to say words, according to a statement released by his office.

“Yesterday, Senator Johnson underwent an MRI which showed that his speech centers were spared of injury. This is confirmed by the fact that he is following commands and has started to say words,” said Vivek Deshmukh, the neurosurgeon treating the senator. Johnson, a South Dakota Democrat, was hospitalized in December after a brain hemorrhage.

It is common, the statement said, for there to be a delay in speech while a person heals from bleeding in the brain. Johnson is currently being weaned off his tracheotomy tube. “The fact that Tim is beginning to use words is remarkable as is his strength and determination,” said Johnson’s wife, Barb. “He even maintains his sense of humor when I share emails about his grandsons’ adventures.” –Sarah Lueck

Update: The senator has responded correctly when asked his name, though there is not much sound coming out of his mouth because of the tracheotomy tube, his spokeswoman, Julianne Fisher, told the AP. “It is clear that he understands that people are introducing themselves, he is looking at name badges to try and associate it with the person, he is saying words and responding to commands,'’ she said. “It’s clear the electricity is on and the system is humming.'’

Senator Tim Johnson Update: Good News (Updated)

BBC: US Democrat's health is improving

Mr Johnson's spokeswoman, Julianne Fisher, told news agencies that the senator's condition "had been upgraded from critical to fair".

"The senator continues to make progress," she said, adding: "The next step would be rehabilitation and we hope that would happen within the week."

Update: Here's the AP take on the story; significantly, Johnson still requires a ventilator at night.

Senator Tim Johnson Update

Via Raw Story, a South Dakota TV station reports doctors predict a long recovery for Mr. Johnson, who has been sedated since December 13th. I know from my dad's case that being sedated for even a week leads to loss of the abilities to speak and swallow, and those are hard to relearn. All those muscles must be rebuilt and reconnected.

Update on Senator Tim Johnson

Not good, according to Bob Geiger. Two weeks is a long time to be on a ventilator.