Dick Cheney's New Heart Has 'No Physical Limitations' According To Interview With '60 Minutes'
ByIn the midst of his successful business and political career, Dick Cheney has spent quite a bit of time under the knife.
The former vice president has had five heart attacks, a quadruple bypass surgery, and resuscitation by a defibrillator.
Since receiving a heart transplant 20 months ago, Cheney has had "no physical limitations", according to his interview with "60 Minutes" in which he spoke about his new book "Heart".
"I fish. I hunt...I don't ski, but that's because of my knees, not my heart. So, it's been a miracle," he told Dr. Janjay Gupta in his "60 Minutes" interview that will air on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.
Cheney admitted he's been lucky and not all heart patients have fared this well. A doctor once compared his fortune to a person driving to work. If most people hit red lights, "''when you get to them, they all turn green,'" the doctor told him. "And that's... a pretty good description," said Cheney.
During his two-year term as vice president, Cheney said his heart never affected his performance nor did stress contribute to his heart issues. He had his first heart attack well before his terms with George Bush, according to CBS News.
"I didn't think about my health. I was thinking about the problem we were dealing with," Cheney said.
"I simply don't buy the notion that it contributed to my heart disease," Cheney said. "In fact...getting back to work...was important enough that I, in fact, kept them separate...I always did what I needed to do in order to deal with the health crisis in the moment."
If those statements sound like not stress but negligence contributed to his heart issues, Cheney's health was strictly monitored during his vice presidency. At one point, his doctor feared he would die from high level of potassium, a condition called hyperkalemia, CBS News reported.
His heart was also a potential target for terrorists. Doctors were forced to remove the wireless feature of the defibrillator implanted in his chest in case someone tried to assassinate by sending a "shock wave" to the device.
"I was aware of the danger...that existed...I found it credible," he told Gupta. "I know from the experience we had and the necessity for adjusting my own device, that it was an accurate portrayal of what was possible."
In fact, that exact scenario played out in an episode of Homeland, Cheney mentioned in his interview.