Still no word from Dick Cheney or his family. I wonder if he is actually dying.

[CTyankee]

Congestive heart failure sounds pretty terrible. Bill Coffin died from it, but was in a nice Hospice for several weeks. My guess is that Cheney has all of the equipment he needs in his big house in VA to keep him going.

Anyone know of his condition?

[valerief]

1. I take it you're looking for a reason to have a party. nt

[TwilightGardener]

2. I've said before that we won't hear of a transplant until it's over and successful--

or unsuccessful. They don't want us to see him moved to the front of the recipient line.

[Warpy]

8. I'm not sure he would be only because he's a VIP

and even if he were, the chances of getting a compatible organ are very slim. Transplant list patients on LVADs are automatically moved to the top of the list, so he wouldn't be calling any real favors in.

In addition, he's an incredibly poor risk. A transplant team would need him to buy them a whole new hospital to justify the waste of an organ into an obese body with smoker's lungs and clogged major arteries.

Also, one has to wonder just how motivated Cheney is to have his chest sawn open yet again. Remember, it takes many months to recover from it and he's just started that recovery after having the pump put in. It's going to take many months of increased perfusion via pump to build him up enough that he wouldn't die on the table.

He's got 3-5 years to think about it, barring serious complications. If he's still terrified of dying, he can consider either having the pump replaced or having a transplant. Since the former is a sure thing and the latter has little chance of success, he might opt for a new pump.

However, his lungs are shot from smoking and his arteries are clogged from a plutocrat's diet combined with smoking. Chances are he'll get complications before then.

I wouldn't trade places with the man for all his ill gotten money.

[TwilightGardener]

19. Actually, I think his kidneys will ulitmately do him in--they're probably in rough shape after

all the cardiac/vascular history plus the LVAD. I'm going to go with renal failure/refuses or unable to tolerate dialysis as the main decision maker, with respiratory right behind (fluid overload).

[Warpy]

24. Reperfusion can work miracles with kidneys

that are pooping out only because they've been starved for circulating blood. They self repair pretty quickly.

[Botany]

18. I doubt a transplant would take

you need good tissue to graft the new heart onto ..... I doubt that his "plumbing"
would hold up. Also he has had 5 heart attacks.

People with his type of pump have to deal w/ a chance of infection, blood clots,
strokes, and or other parts of the heart giving out.

Dick has end stage coronary heart disease and sooner or later he will die from it.

I want him to live to face trial for his actions.



On dick's desk in March 2001.

[jobycom]

3. Why? Has something happened recently?

Even when the guy was VP we rarely heard from him. It was a running joke. Has something happened since mid-August?

[CTyankee]

4. No, unless his life is slipping away. We haven't heard from Liz for quite a while.

She used to be a real "chatty Kathy" and would come snarling on all the talk shows, talking her trash...

[elehhhhna]

20. if we're lucky she'll donate her heart to him.

[CTyankee]

27. If they could find one...which I doubt...

[elehhhhna]

32. but that's the best part -- it's super-tiny, so the whole thing can be done

via "band-aid" surgery.

And she don't use hers, anyways.

[Contrary1]

5. Big decisions need to be made...

since it looks like he will be paying a hell of a lot more in taxes if he croaks in 2011.

[CTyankee]

6. I hope he clings to life...

[BeFree]

11. Bwahahahah~~

[KittyWampus]

29. lol!

[pscot]

31. As a matter of principle

he would surely want to die before New Years.

[asjr]

7. When we stopped hearing from them the

thought crossed my mind he jumped to the head of the heart transplant list. If so, they will try to keep that secret.

[RB TexLa]

9. No one famous or otherwise has to have their death announced

he could die and his family would never have to tell anyone.

[BeFree]

12. Public records?

You might want to rethink this.....

[RB TexLa]

14. You don't have the right to go through death certificates for about 30 years in most states

unless you have a legitimate financial reason.

[GCP]

10. That LVAD could keep him alive for a long time

Aside from that he has a built-in pacemaker and defibrillilator. Hell. he could be immortal.

[Cleita]

13. I don't have any inside information and haven't been

able to find anything out in the internet, but my educated guess is that he is in a coma being kept alive on life support and either will have to get a heart transplant, if he is even physically able to or family is going to have to pull the plug.

[Canuckistanian]

15. He's at death's door

I hope he pulls through.

[gratuitous]

16. Unicorn blood is in short supply

It's a simple matter of economics on this side.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

17. Had a relative die from it

(congestive heart failure) Not good news.

[GCP]

21. No, not a good way to die

I loathe Cheney but I'm not sure I'd wish that on him.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

23. I would not wish it on anyone...

....though I loathe him too.

[Bitwit1234]

22. He lives in his mansion in Southern Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay

remember when he tried to get the state to stop the fishermen from using a cove that they and their ancestors had used for almost 300 years. He said it spoiled his view. Looking at that absolute POS sitting on a veranda or where ever he was would spoil my view if I were the fishermen. Can't get no worst than Cheney.

[LibertyLover]

25. No, the St. Michaels, Maryland house

is the family's second home, used for vacations. Their main residence is in McLean, Virginia on Chain Bridge Road.

[LiberalFighter]

26. There is no way he can die naturally. It would require a curse or a beheading done for an immortal.

[MineralMan]

28. I don't know, but starting a gravedance before the hole has

been dug seems inappropriate, somehow. I'm sure there will be a story in the news if he dies. Until then, what's the point?

[CTyankee]

30. It was just idle speculation. I actually don't like grave dancing. But I do wonder

if he is dying because we haven't seen Liz out there snarling for a while. Surely, this being an election season, she would be if something wasn't up. It's an eerie kind of quiet. That was really the point of my query...after all, they ARE a pretty political family, n'est pas?

[MineralMan]

37. I don't know. The quieter the Cheney family is, the better I like

it. So, I'm just welcoming the break.

[NNN0LHI]

33. I didn't detect any "grave dancing" in the OP

Humans tend to be curious beings. I was wondering about what happened to Cheney this morning.

And another thing the weather changed here(got cool and windy), and now I am wondering if there are any fish left where I go. When it was in the 90's with no wind they were biting like crazy. Now nothing. Tried throwing everything but the tackle box at them and I don't even get a nibble. Ever seen that happen before?

Don

[MineralMan]

35. I've been too darned busy to go fishing for about three weeks.

And now the weather's not cooperating.

[colinmom71]

34. Sorry, but since when should ANY person's medical privacy...

Be considered to be subject to publication? It's a family issue, and I'm sure they will publicize information as is relevant to public interest as related to a former Vice President's health status.

I hope no one takes offense at this, but I'm a huge advocate of medical privacy... Regardless of whom the party might be.

[sabra]

36. Liz Cheney says he's ‘Doing a Lot of Physical Therapy’

http://blog.blogtalkradio.com/politics/dick-cheney-lot-physical-therapy-heart-surgerybut-hoping-fishing/

Dick Cheney: ‘Doing a Lot of Physical Therapy’ After Heart Surgery—but Hoping to Go Fishing Real Soon, Says Daughter Liz

You gotta hand it to Dick Cheney. Less that two months after doctors implanted a pump in his heart to compensate for increasing congestive heart failure, the 69-year-old former vice president—who has had five heart attacks over the past 32 years —is hard at work on his memoirs, while gearing up for some outdoor fun.

So says Dick’s daughter, Liz Cheney, who’s collaborating on her dad’s book, which will help put his legacy within the George W. Bush administration into perspective.

“He’s doing really well. He is back at home here in Virginia and he’s hoping to get back to what we really consider home, which is Wyoming, as soon as he can,” she tells AACONS host Marie Stroughter.

“His left-ventricular assist device is essentially a pump that helps his heart function, helps his heart to pump more effectively. And that’s working wonderfully.

“He’s doing a lot of physical therapy. He was in the hospital for about five weeks. So when you’re in the hospital for that long, it does take time to recover and come back. So that’s what he’s focused on very much now,” Liz, an attorney who held key roles in the State Department under President Bush, continues.

“But he’s doing really well, and back at work on the book. We’re looking forward to having the book come out, and also to having him get back to Wyoming.

“I think what he’d really like to do is get back on a drift boat on the Snake River and do some fishing. Hopefully that’ll come soon.”