New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie talks to the media outside of the Somerset Medical Center emergency room, Thursday, July 28, 2011. (credit: AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Reporting Al Jones
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HILLSBOROUGH, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was released from the hospital Thursday evening around 6:30 p.m. after undergoing a series of tests following an episode of breathing difficulty.
Christie addressed reporters shortly after leaving the hospital and said that he feels fine and expects to be back on the job Friday.
“The folks in there did a great job, ran whole battery tests on me, took a whole lot of blood. Everything came back normal. You know, it’s been a long time — I think since law school — since I had to go to the hospital for my asthma,” Christie said.
Christie Tells Reporters He Feels “Fine.” 1010 WINS’ Al Jones Reports
Christie, 48, started having breathing problems while he was on the way to an event at a farm in central New Jersey.
“I took the rescue inhaler that I have — didn’t have the effect it normally has. I started to feel light-headed and spoke to the troopers and said that I wasn’t feeling well — apparently didn’t look all that well,” Christie said.
When asked if his health scare had anything to do with his weight, Christie answered “I think the weight exacerbates everything.”
“You know, I’ve been pretty candid about that right from the start of my public career,” he said. “The lighter I am, the healthier I’ll be, so I’m sure it affects it. Though I gotta say, I don’t think it had any effect on today. I think it is much of the atmosphere this week. It’s been very humid.”
Maria Comella, Christie’s deputy chief of staff, said the governor’s EKG, blood work and chest X-ray came back “normal.”
“He started to feel a little bit slight of breath, sort of typical for him, not unusual for him dealing with asthma. He alerted the detail,” Comella said.
The governor, who was diagnosed with asthma when he was 15 and uses an inhaler, was taken to Somerset Medical Center around 10:30 a.m. out of an “abundance of caution,” according to spokesman Michael Drewniak. Asthma is a serious condition that can be made significantly worse during high heat and peak allergy season.
“They’ve ruled out anything else more serious anything to do with cardiac issues have been ruled out,” Comella said.
Christie’s wife of 25 years, Mary Pat, who works part-time as a vice president at Cantor Fitzgerald investment bank in New York, came to the hospital to be by her husband’s side. She later left smiling and waving to the media, on her way to one of their son’s baseball games.
“She walked around that curtain and looked in my eyes, and she saw I was fine. I saw her let out an exhale like ‘okay,’” Christie said.
And with the media surrounding the hospital, the governor was inside making phone calls, texting colleagues and friends he was fine. Then he said he turned on the Mets game, hoping to relax, reports CBS 2′s Derricke Dennis.
“They almost sent me over. They had a 9-3 lead and wound up winning 10-9, so, as usual, they almost sent me to the wrong end,” Christie said.
Christie’s weight has made his health a matter of public speculation and comment. Christie recently told CBS 2′s Christine Sloan he’s been dropping pounds. Whether his weight attributed to his problem Thursday only doctors can say, but the governor has talked about it in the past.
“The thing that I feel most guilty about, my weight,” Christie said. “I’m really struggling, been struggling for a long time with it. And I know that it would be better for my kids if I got it under control.”
The New Jersey governor also told reporters Thursday that he worked out with his trainer on Wednesday morning, something he said he does three days a week.
During the 2009 campaign, Democrat incumbent Jon Corzine ran an ad accusing Christie of “throwing his weight around” to which Christie responded with, “man up and say I’m fat.”
Christie once admitted weighing in at 550 pounds, but said in February he had dropped a significant amount of weight. Christie remained coy on exact figures, though.
“I’m not going to put any numbers on it because you just set yourself up for failure,” he said at the time.
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