Pennsylvania Democrat Senator James Fetterman is still receiving mental health treatment.
His aides are keeping him abreast of developments in the Senate.
His family of four, including his wife Gisele and two young children, just returned from what they called “an unplanned vacation” in Canada.
While Senator John Fetterman is receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for mental depression, his wife Gisele Baretto Fetterman has taken their three children on an unplanned road trip to Canada.
John is doing well, working with the amazing doctors, and continuing on a path to recovery, said Fetterman spokesperson Joe Calvello in a statement released on Monday.
The Pennsylvania senator was sent to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, in early February due to dizziness. There was no evidence of another stroke, and he was released from the hospital. His first stroke occurred in May 2022.
According to Adam Jentleson, Fetterman’s chief of staff, Brian P. Monahan, the attending physician of Congress, assessed Fetterman upon his return and advised him to enter inpatient treatment for his “serious in recent weeks” depression.
On February 16 he checked into Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, MD on his own.
“We understand the enormous interest in John’s status, and especially appreciate the stream of well-wishes,” Calvello stated. We will keep everyone apprised of developments over the coming weeks, but for the time being, this is all we have to report.
The senator’s wife took her three children, Karl, Grace, and August, and fled the media swarm outside their Braddock house on Friday to visit Niagara Falls via Buffalo, New York.
I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m learning as I go along. A week ago today, the news broke and she wrote, “The kids were homesick and the media trucks were outside our house.”
She stated, “I did the first thing I could think of… load kids in the car and travel” after hearing that her husband could be in the hospital for weeks as physicians figure out a treatment plan and drugs.
We had a long discussion on the difficulties we will all have to endure. Regarding the importance of treating others and ourselves with kindness,’ Gisele Fetterman elaborated.
Also, she recorded a video while a “rescue” was in progress in which she coolly explained how their son August had become stuck while zip lining.
We faced our fears together and accomplished a lot. August got trapped while we were zipping over Niagara Falls. She went on to say that a central theme of their conversation was the importance of maintaining an “open heart and mind” in any situation.
Former Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, who is 6 feet 8 inches tall and covered in tattoos, was elected in November after having a stroke in May.
He has had trouble processing sensory information during his recuperation and uses a computer program to translate between languages so that he may give interviews to the media and fulfill his responsibilities as a senator without interrupting the interview.
It’s been difficult, according to a senior assistant who spoke to NBC, to tell whether the senator is ‘not hearing you, or is he sort of handicapped by his melancholy and social anxiety,’ as the aide put it.
According to a CNN article from last Friday, Fetterman’s symptoms included a loss of weight and hunger, leading him to spend the night in the George Washington University Hospital last week with complaints of dizziness.
Last Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden stated solidarity. John and Gisele, Jill, and I have your family in our thoughts. Depressive disorders affect millions of individuals every day, with many suffering in silence. It takes bravery and consideration to seek the medical attention you require. For setting the bar so high, we thank you, as Biden wrote on Twitter.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) stated he and his wife Heidi were “raising John in prayer” because of their family history of mental illness in their own.
I hope he receives the help he needs; mental illness is very real and very serious. Please honor the request for privacy from his family, regardless of your political affiliation, Senator Cruz said.