Physician Report by Dr. Wallace Graham for Former President Harry S. Truman

RESI .CH HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL CENTE Kansas City, Missouri TRUMAN, Harry S. Wallace H. Graham 4 The President has been admitted to the Research Hospital because of distress in the left lower abdominal quadrant and diarrhea the past ten days. He was found to have considerably low proteins and hemoglobin. His weight at time of entry varied at 140 to 143 lbs. He complained of continuous ache in the low back in the presacral area. This was found to be secondary to irritability of the lower sigmoid and the upper section of the colon which was due to a hard fecal impaction. He has had these previously and it was the cause of extreme irritation and has been the thought that there must be some basic cause for the irritable area. He has been forced to lead a rather sedentary life that he is not used to, as he has been taking his daily walks regularly until the past 2 months, approximately. He has been sitting because he is afraid of falling and may fracture a bone. The President became very restless and has been becoming more so of late and somewhat disoriented. This is not unusual for this age individual to become somewhat disoriented when they leave their natural living quarters. He became somewhat obstinate in declining to take some medications, and I can't say that I blame him for that. However, generally speaking, he was always quite affable and converses well, but he was having considerable trouble also with the lower colon and keeping control of the sphincter. This is very difficult because he had such a marked proctitis. He progressed well, however, on conser- vative therapy. An electrocardiogram was taken and wasn't unusual. There were no further changes than had been previously. There is a first degree AV block seen with the PR interval of .28 seconds, and he's had this for many years. The x-rays also have revealed for the first time rather extensive arthritic changes in the epiphyseal joints between the L4 and L5 and L5 and S1. There is no evidence, however, of recent injury. Flat plate of the abdomen was not unusual, and the colon, other than noted in the rectal-sigmoid junction revealing the left colon to be somewhat irritable but within normal limits. The upper gastrointestinal series was taken to find the progress or the status of the previous NARE GETRED defect in the gastric pouch, and the small hiatus hernia was found with a minimal amount of reflux. There was a filling defect in the gastric antrium, but this probably represented a hypertrophied mucosal fold, as it appeared. HISTORY & PHYSICIAL EXAMINATION OPERATIVE REPORT DISCHARGE SUMMARY DELIVERY NOTE Cont. CONSULTATION REPORT Prenatal history Form 10 - 86