Johnson glad to be back in Senate

2007-10-06

Source: Associated Press

When South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson appeared at a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing last month, one of the witnesses diverted from the dark subject matter - violence against American Indian women - and gave the Democrat a warm greeting.

"It's good to see you looking so well," Karen Artichoker, director of a women's resource center in Rapid City, said to the senator.

Johnson, who returned to the Senate on Sept. 5 after a life-threatening brain hemorrhage and a nine-month absence, greeted her as well, giving her a special introduction from his motorized wheelchair on the dais. But her lengthy last name proved a bit difficult for the senator, who has trouble with his speech as a result of the brain injury.

Johnson has been easing his way back into the Senate after an intense recovery, which has included learning to walk and speak like he did before "the incident," as he calls it.

The senator, 60, was rushed from his Senate office to George Washington University Hospital after becoming disoriented on a conference call with reporters in December. He underwent emergency surgery for arteriovenous malformation, a condition that causes arteries and veins in the brain to grow abnormally large, become tangled and sometimes burst.

In an interview with The Associated Press, he said his long-awaited return has been "exciting and satisfying."

"It's good to be back and I'm feeling well," he said, still somewhat haltingly, while sipping a cup of coffee and relaxing in an easy chair in his Senate office. "I'm increasingly engaged in my work."

Read More...

---