Giuliani promises update on his health

HOPKINTON, N.H. — Rudy Giuliani on Saturday provided the most detailed account yet of the health scare that led to his recent hospitalization, saying that he suffered a "terrible headache" but did not black out and that his doctor would update his health condition "after Christmas."

Giuliani, in an interview to be broadcast today on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" on ABC, said he felt well and preliminary tests indicated his prostate cancer had not returned.

But he said his doctor would not be able to give a detailed update on his medical condition until after Christmas.

"Well, he's tied up until then and also I've got to make sure I get all the cancer tests back, and he's going to put together a complete picture," Giuliani said.

Asked if he would disclose all his health records after Christmas, Giuliani said, "He's going to put out everything that's appropriate to show that I'm in good health."

After a town-hall-style meeting in Hopkinton, Giuliani said he had had a bad headache and did not know why his campaign people told reporters he had "flu-like symptoms."

"You're going to have to ask them," he said. "I'm telling you what actually happened. I had a very, very bad headache. It got worse on the plane. I then got checked out. Went through a lot of tests. All the tests came back 100 percent normal. That's the bottom line."

Giuliani asked the pilots to turn the plane around in midair Wednesday night after taking off from St. Louis and checked into the Barnes-Jewish Hospital for more than 14 hours. His campaign has declined to discuss the matter in detail for days.

"It was a terrible headache, I mean all day — it got worse all day," he said, adding that it worsened at his last news conference of the day and after his plane took off for New York. "I imagine what happened is the pressure of the takeoff made the headache worse than I've ever had."

Giuliani said he did not black out but his staff grew concerned, and he personally made the decision to turn the plane around.

He said the doctors had "checked everything" and cleared him, adding that he was not taking any prescription medication but had been told to take aspirin.

He also said he had visited a doctor again Friday, which his campaign had not disclosed.

Giuliani's remarks came after his campaign had declined for days to make his doctors available to brief reporters, or to provide detailed information about his health.

In 2000, Giuliani ended his race for Senate against Hillary Rodham Clinton after doctors diagnosed him with prostate cancer.

Since then, he has said he is in good health.

There have been several instances of candidates or elected officials minimizing serious medical conditions in the past.

In 1992, Paul Tsongas, a Democratic presidential candidate, and his doctors at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston said he was cancer-free after a bone-marrow transplant for his lymphoma.

In fact, the cancer had recurred. Tsongas died of the cancer two days shy of what would have been his first term as president.