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player ready...A smiling Mayor Richard Daley walked out of Northwestern Memorial Hospital Friday saying “I feel fine,” but not before giving the city a brief palpitation.
Daley was whisked to the hospital Thursday night after feeling woozy and nearly collapsing at a Near North Side restaurant.
“He’s doing terrific this morning. In fact, he looks better than most of us do,” said Dr. Steven DeAngeles, a Nothwestern internist who treated the mayor. “The blood pressure and vitals have been totally normal, and multiple studies that we’ve done have also been normal.”
Daley, who will turn 60 on April 24, went to his South Loop home after his release, but he was expected to resume his normal schedule Saturday.
“Tomorrow morning, he will be at a CAPS rally at Dearborn Homes,” press secretary Jacquelyn Heard said Friday. And on Wednesday, he will fly as planned to Washington to testify in favor of a bill that would help clear the way for the proposed expansion of O’Hare International Airport, she said.
During a dinner Thursday, the mayor reportedly began to lose his balance and fall to the floor, but Heard denied reports that he lost consciousness for a brief period at the Rosebud Steakhouse, 192 E. Walton St.
Daley’s spell is believed to have stemmed from pain due to a severe leg cramp brought on by exercise earlier in the day.
The cramp probably triggered a reaction that affected his circulatory system, making him feel faint, DeAngeles said. Once he slumped over in his chair into a more horizontal position, blood flow became more normal and the dizziness passed, he added.
The fact that former President George Bush and President George W. Bush had similar fainting spells is not surprising, experts say. Most people experience something like Daley’s near-collapse at some point in their lives, said Dr. Matthew Sorrentino, a cardiologist at the University of Chicago. The normally harmless episode, called a vasovagal response, can cause anything from lightheadedness to fainting.
The response stems from a network of nerves, often called the vagal system, which when stimulated can decrease blood pressure, lower the heart rate and expand blood vessels. Pain such as Daley’s leg cramp is a common source of such stimulation, Sorrentino said.
“It can happen when you get a shot with a needle in a doctor’s office,” he said.
Dinner factor
Eating dinner also may have helped prompt Daley’s episode. Digestion of food directs blood away from the brain and toward the stomach and intestines, which can cause lightheadedness if someone tries to stand up abruptly in the middle of a meal.
Doctors typically tell patients who have such spells to sit and put their heads down until the blood flow returns to normal, said Dr. Kevin Sherin, a family medicine specialist at the Advocate Christ Family Practice Center in Hometown. Such episodes rarely are serious, he said.
“If your pulse slowed below 30 beats a minute you could lose perfusion of blood to the brain,” Sherin said. “If that lasted for a significant amount of time, that would affect brain cells. But usually these things are momentary.”
Although Daley’s episode appeared to be mild, it was prudent for doctors to keep him overnight, Sorrentino said.
“He’s known to have high blood pressure,” he said. “Sometimes people can faint because they have abnormal heart rhythms, and you want to be sure those aren’t occurring.”
The city’s Emergency Communications Center received a call at 8:29 p.m. from a man who said he was asked by members of Daley’s party to report the mayor “was sick at the table,” said Larry Langford, a spokesman for the center. The operator was told Daley was alert and breathing.
By the time a Fire Department ambulance arrived, Daley was feeling better and paramedics were turned away. Nevertheless the mayor’s wife, Maggie, urged him to get checked by doctors, Heard said. Daley was taken to the hospital by his security detail.
Overnight testing
He went through six tests overnight Thursday and Friday morning. The episode was not related to the mayor’s hypertension, nor did doctors have to prescribe new medications, DeAngeles said.
Daley walked out of the west entrance of the Feinberg Pavilion at Northwestern shortly before 11:30 a.m., smiling and waving.
“I feel fine. I feel good,” he said. He praised doctors and nurses who cared for him.
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Though Thursday’s spell was considered minor by doctors, it was magnified by an incident nearly two years ago in which the mayor was rushed to Northwestern by ambulance after complaining of chest discomfort. Tests showed no evidence of a heart attack, but doctors discovered that Daley suffered from hypertension. The mayor acknowledged at the time that he had not had a physical exam in years.
Blood pressure medication
Since then he has been taking Altace, which controls blood pressure, has been getting exams regularly and has “done everything the doctors asked him to do,” Heard said. “Everything is under control because he follows those directions.”
Daley typically works out at a health club near his home at least three times a week.
Among those relieved at Friday’s positive medical report was Ald. Bernard Stone (50th), the city’s vice mayor and the man who would take over if Daley were incapacitated.
“I don’t fancy being mayor under any circumstances, and certainly not under these,” said Stone, 74. “I prayed a lot. I am just happy that everything is OK.”