Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke during his campaign last year, is still in the hospital and undergoing testing after feeling dizzy, according to his office’s statement on Thursday evening. Tests have so far ruled out another stroke or seizure.
According to a statement released by Fetterman’s communications director Joe Calvello on Thursday night, a fresh stroke has been ruled out by an MRI at George Washington University Hospital and other medical examinations.
According to Calvello, Fetterman was being observed with an electroencephalogram (EEG), a device that analyses brainwaves, for indications of a seizure.
He is still being watched, but there have been no seizure symptoms to date, according to Calvello.
When Fetterman may leave the hospital, Calvello did not say, although he had indicated late on Wednesday that Fetterman was “in excellent spirits and conversing with his family and workers.
Wednesday, while at a Democratic retreat in Washington, Fetterman had dizziness. He rushed to the hospital and spent the night there for tests.
After a tense race against GOP contender Mehmet Oz, Fetterman, 53, won the seat occupied by the now-retired Republican Pat Toomey in November.
The famed heart surgeon was beaten by Fetterman, the lieutenant governor, by 5 percentage points, flipping a crucial Senate seat for Democrats to maintain their control. The campaign cost over $300 million, making it the most expensive Senate election in 2022.
Sen. John Fetterman
Days before the Democratic primary, on May 13, he had what he later described as a “near-fatal stroke,” which put an end to his campaign.
He had surgery to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator to treat two heart diseases, cardiomyopathy and atrial fibrillation, and he recovered for much of the summer away from the campaign trail.
As Oz questioned whether Fetterman was truthful about the consequences of the stroke and his fitness to serve, he refused to share his medical documents and let his doctors respond to reporters’ inquiries. According to his physicians, the Democrat argued, he may make a full recovery.
Since the stroke, Fetterman has battled auditory processing disorder, a typical side effect that makes it difficult for a person to communicate clearly and swiftly translate spoken words into meaning.
When Fetterman struggled to finish sentences and jumbled words during the lone debate of the autumn campaign, the stroke’s consequences were clear.
He reminded his cheering fans on election night that he campaigned for “everyone that ever got knocked down and rose back up.”
From 2019 to 2023, Fetterman served as lieutenant governor. He was a presence at 6-foot-8, had a goatee and a clean-shaven head, and was well-known for dressing in hoodies and shorts. From 2006 to 2019, he presided over Braddock, Pennsylvania.