Clinton returning to work next week, for real this time
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will return to work next week, after a being released from the hospital following a blood clot in her brain, the State Department said today. Clinton, who has not been seen in public since she originally fell ill with a stomach virus Dec. 7, was originally scheduled to return to ...
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will return to work next week, after a being released from the hospital following a blood clot in her brain, the State Department said today.
Clinton, who has not been seen in public since she originally fell ill with a stomach virus Dec. 7, was originally scheduled to return to work this week. Her illness was compounded when she was fainted and sustained a concussion. She was admitted to the hospital Dec. 30 after the blood clot was discovered. She was treated with anti-coagulants at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and was released Wednesday morning.
Clinton is now resting at her home in Chappaqua, NY, and is getting ready to return to Washington and be back at her desk at the State Department next week, State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said today.
"She’s looking forward to getting back to the office. She’s very much planning to do so next week," Nuland said.
There’s no date yet for Clinton to testify before the Senate and House foreign relations committees on the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, but those details are being worked out now.
"She is committed to testifying and we are working with the relevant committees to find an appropriate date," said Nuland
Clinton has been taking calls from senior State Department officials and receiving papers at home and officials who have spoken with her have described her as "sounding upbeat" and "raring to go," according to Nuland.
Her doctors have still advised her to hold off on international travel for the time being, which will come as a disappointment to the Korean and Japanese governments, who had been expecting a visit from Clinton this month, although that trip had never been officially announced.
Meanwhile, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), was at the State Department for a series of briefings Wednesday and was sent home with reams of briefing books as part of his preparation for confirmation hearings to become the next secretary of state.
Clinton’s doctors Lisa Bardack of the Mt. Kisco Medical Group and Gigi El-Bayoumi of the George Washington University, released a statement on Clinton’s condition Tuesday, prior to her release.
"In the course of a routine follow-up MRI on Sunday, the scan revealed that a right transverse sinus venous thrombosis had formed. This is a clot in the vein that is situated in the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear. It did not result in a stroke, or neurological damage. To help dissolve this clot, her medical team began treating the Secretary with blood thinners. She will be released once the medication dose has been established. In all other aspects of her recovery, the Secretary is making excellent progress and we are confident she will make a full recovery. She is in good spirits, engaging with her doctors, her family, and her staff," they said.
On Wednesday, Clinton aide Philippe Reines released a statement confirming her release from the hospital.
"Secretary Clinton was discharged from the hospital this evening. Her medical team advised her that she is making good progress on all fronts, and they are confident she will make a full recovery. She’s eager to get back to the office, and we will keep you updated on her schedule as it becomes clearer in the coming days," he said. "Both she and her family would like to express their appreciation for the excellent care she received from the doctors, nurses and staff at New York Presbyterian Hospital Columbia University Medical Center."
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
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