CLINTON5.CBS 09/07/04 8:13 AM-DLR   1:24
The latest member of the zipper club.  This is Dave Ross on the CBS Radio Network.
Former president Clinton is recovering from his heart bypass surgery - an operation which we've come to see as routine, even though it involves a little thing known as STOPPING THE HEART.  Clinton's heart was stopped for 73 minutes - but once he recovers, the only outward indication that anything happened will be the zipper-like scar in the center of his chest.
And that would be that, except - isn't it just a little unsettling?  Here's a guy who as president had a top personal physician, jogs all the time, and who still got surprised.
This is the thing I'm curious about - how it is that a guy who has access to the best medical care that modern civilization has to offer could be walking around with arteries that are 90% blocked and not know it!
We all know the Golden Arches were the mightiest of all the temptations he's faced in his life, but he seemed to be able to jog it off.  And we all know he's a workaholic, but he's one of those who seems to revel in working.
PLUS - he passed his treadmill test!  Ever taken a treadmill test?  The doctor snaps wires on you, you step on the treadmill, he turns it on, and then cranks it up faster and faster, all the while asking you if you feel faint, completely ignoring the Geneva convention.
You'd think if any test would reveal that your heart was on the verge of giving up, it would be that, but Clinton passed it.
So clean was his bill of health he figured the chest pain he occasionally felt was no big deal.   When in fact it was his body - screaming at him, "the tests are wrong!  Pay attention!"  And fortunately, he did!
Now this.
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