CLEVELAND (ABP) — Former President Jimmy Carter was discharged Sept. 30 after two nights in a Cleveland hospital for what doctors say was a stomach virus.
A joint statement by MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland and the Carter Center in Atlanta said the 39th president of the United States had recovered from "a gastric viral infection" and will resume his schedule with a meeting this week in Washington.
Carter, who turns 86 Oct. 1, became ill Sept. 28 while aboard a commercial flight during a tour promoting his new book, White House Diary. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital and kept overnight for observation. Doctors kept him for a second night Sept. 29 for further observation and determined he apparently suffered from a virus and was getting better.
The Sept. 30 press release said Carter "thanked his medical team at MetroHealth for the attentive and comprehensive care and treatment he received during his stay." It added, "He also again expressed his appreciation to all the members of the public who sent greetings to him."
White House Diary, Carter's 24th book, is abridged and annotated from a personal diary he kept during his four years in the White House. Carter dictated his thoughts and observations several times each day. By the time his presidency came to an end in early 1981, the diary had amassed to more than 5,000 pages of double-spaced type.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.
