Hillary’s Health

By Kate Freeman
Sept. 14–Questions about Hillary Clinton’s health have persisted for some time and both her campaign and the Party have been extremely defensive on this count. Those questions have intensified over these last few weeks, as she has had to interrupt several major addresses due to uncontrollable coughing fits, which have been attributed by the campaign to her allergies. During her press conference Sept. 9, she appeared really out of it. She wasn’t simply lethargic–at some points, her eyelids appeared to droop and it looked like she was either “swooning” or falling asleep on her feet.
A reporter for the Daily Mail tweeted about this, and his Twitter account was promptly shut down! Overall, the reaction on the part of the Hillary camp, when questions regarding her health have been raised, have been so over the top, that rather than quelling the chatter, they have served to do the opposite and intensify the public’s distrust.
The Trump camp, crazy bastards that they are, haven’t been able to capitalize on this because they say things that are so nutty. The latest is that Hillary has AIDS, which she caught from Bill.
However, when she collapsed at the 9-11 Memorial Service on Sunday, it became impossible to dismiss questions about her health. Her collapse was attributed to the fact that she became “overheated and dehydrated” at the event. But the explanation lacks credibility. It was 70 degrees (about 21 Celsius) in NYC on Sunday morning. The event was held near the water, meaning that it was probably even cooler there. Later, it was admitted that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia the previous Friday.
Subsequently, on Sunday night, her appearances scheduled for Monday-Wednesday were cancelled so she could “rest.” We are told that during this so-called rest period, she will undergo a series of tests to determine why she has these fainting episodes.
Her past medical history does raise questions. It is notable for a deep vein thrombosis, episodes of which occurred in 1998, 2009, and again, in 2012 (the DVT in both 2009 and 2012 occurred even though she was taking blood-thinning medication). Blackouts led to an elbow fracture in 2009 and a concussion in 2012.
Clinton was advised in 1998 to begin taking long term blood-thinning medications to prevent further deep vein thrombosis blood clots. Blood clots can form in the deep veins of the legs when a person sits still for an extended period, such as during long flights. The problem turns serious if the blood clot breaks off and travels to other parts of the body, such as the lungs.
Along with taking blood-thinning medication, Clinton takes medication for hypothyroidism, a condition in which her thyroid gland is underactive and doesn’t produce enough important hormones.
Even with the blood-thinners, in December 2012, Clinton suffered another blackout that caused her to suffer a serious concussion. In follow-up evaluations for the concussion, she was found to have a transverse sinus venous thrombosis–in other words, a blood clot in the brain. She was hospitalized and underwent treatment to dissolve that clot.
The 1998 incident was a proximal DVT–one that had ascended into the popliteal vein—an especially dangerous form of DVT that is likely to cause a condition called pulmonary embolus, which can be fatal. A cerebral venous sinus thrombosis is also a deadly condition, with a mortality of approximately 10 percent and negative cognitive effects, though survivors make a good recovery.
Since she continues to exhibit a clotting problem, the common response would be to increase the dosage of blood-thinning meds. The problem is that any blood thinners do indeed increase the likelihood of an episode of major bleeding, often from relatively minor injury. Given that she receives excellent health care, this isn’t necessarily cause for great worry.
The more relevant question is why she continues to suffer these blackouts. In addition to the total blackouts, she seems to suffer occasional brain freezes. These have increased since the 2012 concussion. She’s undergone extensive neurological testing for this in the past, without any successful diagnosis. It’s my understanding that a new round of tests is going to be done.
Whether she has a medical problem that disqualifies her as fit to serve as President, the more compelling problem now is that there is a deep sense on the part of the public that the truth is being covered up. Given that all polls show that her major problem vis-à-vis electability is the fact that people don’t trust her, this simply adds to that distrust.
Even prior to the Sunday morning episode, polls in 4 states deemed to be decisive in the general election showed Hillary and Trump running even.
An additional major concern is the ability of Hillary to get out the vote. Needless to say, major get out the vote schemes, schemes which have in the past led to allegations of vote fraud, are being put in place by Democratic machines.
I think no matter how you slice it, the potential for absolute chaos seems to grow by the day.