Thursday, October 21, 2004

I'm learning how to spell "defibrillator"

I still favor the "earpiece theory of the Bush bulge. (And I hope you'll read the post below this one, which outlines the simple step you can take to make sure this story makes the front pages.)

But the defibrillator theory of Bush's bulge has been growing like...er...some sort of a bulge. And now it even has its own website. I'd like to direct everyone's attention to this bit, which has appeared on a number of diffeent sites:
After watching the third presidential debate Wednesday night, Dr. W. Kendall Tongier, M.D. of Dallas, Texas posted on the Dallas Morning News Web site about his concerns that the President may have had a stroke. The anesthesiologist, who has been in practice for 15 years, wrote: "Having watched the first two debates from start to finish, I was looking forward to listening to a spirited debate between Bush and Kerry. Unfortunately, I barely heard a word that was said. Instead, I found myself staring at and concentrating on the President's drooping mouth.

"As a physician and a professor, I tend to pick up on signs and symptoms of physical problems better than most other people. I am highly concerned with what I saw. The drooping left side of the President's face, his mouth and nasolabial fold (the crease in the face running from the nostril to the side of mouth) may be indicative of a recent stroke, TIA (transient ischemic attack)) or, possibly botox injections. I sincerely hope this was nothing more than botox injections. The other options are truly scary given an upcoming election for President in three weeks."

In a phone interview, Dr. Tongier stressed that he's not a neurologist, and no doctor can make a diagnosis from a 90-minute debate. But he did explain why he found Bush's face so distracting Wednesday night: "It struck me across the face to the point where I wasn't really listening to the debate. It looked like the left side of his mouth was downturned. You know how he sneers at times. At first I thought that's what it was, but it didn't change when his face was at rest. It changed when he talked, but you'd expect that. It's the loss of muscle tone there that's really kind of concerning. And it was pretty much persistent throughout the entire debate."
Some have also wondered whether Bush's mysterious on-then-off trip to Crawford, TX had any links to health concerns. This site
reports that Bush's resting heart rate is 45. Is that true, and is it stable?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think the health problem has merit because bush didnt do his physical