From VOA Learning English, this is IN THE NEWS in Special English.
American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is at home after a stay in a New York hospital, where she was treated for a blood clot. Her doctors say she is making excellent progress. A State Department spokeswoman said Mrs. Clinton plans to return to her office next week.
Last month, the 65-year-old diplomat suffered a stomach virus that caused her to be dehydrated -- lacking enough fluids in her body. She fell and hit her head while she was sick.
In a normal medical examination following the accident, doctors discovered the blood clot between her brain and her skull, a sinus venous thrombosis. She is currently taking medicine called blood thinners to break up the blood clot. Dr. Ben Wedro works in a Wisconsin trauma center. Dr. Wedro describes a blood clot.
“Blood pools and it doesn't flow. Blood that doesn't flow, clots. That's a good thing when it's outside the blood vessels. Not a good thing when it's inside the blood.”
Most common blood clots occur in the leg. This can be deadly if the clot moves to a lung and blocks the flow of blood to the heart. Mrs. Clinton suffered a blood clot in her leg in 1998. She once said that it was the biggest health threat she had ever faced.
Mrs. Clinton’s health problems of the past month have caused her to cancel trips and important meetings. She had been expected to testify before Congress about the attack on the American diplomatic office in Benghazi, Libya. A possibility remains that she will still appear before Congress about the issue in the future.
On Wednesday, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Mrs. Clinton had continued to work while in the hospital.
“She has been talking to her staff, including today. She has been quite active on the phone with all of us. But she also made some calls on Saturday to a couple of foreign officials.”
She reportedly made calls to discuss the issues of Syria, Afghanistan and financial support for the Palestinian Authority.
Since Mrs. Clinton began serving as secretary of state in two thousand nine, she has visited one hundred twelve countries. She has traveled more than any secretary of state in United States history. She plans to retire from the position once President Obama’s nominee for the job, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, is confirmed by the Senate.
Mr. Kerry, a Democrat, is currently the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He attended Yale University and served for a short time in Vietnam after he completed his studies. John Kerry was awarded two combat medals and three Purple Hearts, which are given to those wounded in war. He was elected to the Senate in nineteen eighty-two. He has been known to support free trade and environmental protection.
In two thousand four, Mr. Kerry won the Democratic Party presidential nomination. He ran against President George W. Bush and lost the election by about two percent.
With Mrs. Clinton’s retirement and health problems, many people are trying to predict if she will campaign for president in 2016. In 2008, she lost the Democratic Party nomination to Barack Obama. In an interview with ABC’s Barbara Walters in December, she said, right now, she does not have any intention of running for office.
