Indiana Grain Company, LLC

Posted: 02/11/10

By: tomgrisafi

Former President Bill Clinton is said to be in good spirits after two stents were placed in one of his coronary arteries this afternoon.

"President Clinton is in good spirits, and will continue to focus on the work of his Foundation and Haiti's relief and long-term recovery efforts," said adviser Doug Band said in a statement.

Clinton was admitted and is expected to stay the night at Columbia of New York Presbyterian Hospital. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton arrived at the hospital this evening, and has postponed a trip to the mid-east that was scheduled for Friday Feb. 12th.

A source at Columbia Hospital said Clinton had contacted the head of cardiology earlier this week, and stated he was not feeling very well.

Although the procedure was not planned, upon arrival and conversations with cardiologists the decision arose that Clinton should undergo surgery.

Stents are tiny mesh scaffolds used to prop open an artery after it is unclogged in an angioplasty procedure. Doctors thread a tube through a blood vessel in the groin to a blocked artery, inflate a balloon to flatten the clog, and slide the stent into place.

In 2004 landed Clinton in the hospital, and he underwent quadruple bypass surgery to unblock four arteries.

As seen from the picture above, our very own Michael Essany has had the opportunity to meet President Clinton, and us here at Indiana Grain hope he makes a speedy recovery.