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Thurmond said to be in good spirits after prostate surgery
August 25, 1999 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-South Carolina) was in good spirits Wednesday following surgery to treat an enlarged prostate, his spokesman said. John DeCosta, Thurmond's spokesman, said the 96-year-old senator was back in his room following morning surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. DeCosta said Thurmond, the oldest member of Congress and the longest-serving senator in history, was feeling fine and was "awake, alert and in good spirits," joking with nurses and doctors. He is expected to remain in the hospital through the weekend.
Thurmond was admitted to Walter Reed in suburban Washington on Sunday night after complaining of tiredness. A statement from his office said after being admitted Thurmond decided to go ahead with surgery for a chronically enlarged prostate because the gland had given him more trouble in recent months. The surgery had been scheduled for November. Thurmond's hospital admission came two days after he collapsed while in South Carolina, leading to a hospital stay of a few hours there. The Republican senator was released from a Columbia, South Carolina, hospital Friday night after tests following his collapse earlier that day at a reception at the University of South Carolina. He appeared unsteady as he left the hospital, but he continued his weekend schedule, which included a wedding for a former aide in Charleston. Thurmond was first elected to the Senate in 1954 and became the oldest person to serve in Congress at age 93. At 94 he became the longest-serving senator ever. He has been hospitalized briefly several times in recent years, including for a day in Washington after he became dizzy in October 1997. He also spent several days in a military hospital for a respiratory infection that December and earlier that year was hospitalized in Washington recovering from the flu. |
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MORE STORIES:Wednesday, August 25, 1999
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