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When Sen. Dianne Feinstein returned to the chamber earlier this month, she had to be taken in a wheelchair and photos of her arrival immediately went viral.
After a months-long absence, reportedly due to a serious case of shingles, the 89-year-old Feinstein looked frail, gaunt, and feeble as she weakly acknowledged her well-wishers and her surroundings.
But according to reports published on Thursday, as bad as Feinstein looked upon her return — the left side of her face appearing frozen with one eye almost shut — the truth is she was worse off than previously disclosed.
The New York Times reported that Feinstein’s fragile appearance could be attributed to various complications that arose after her hospitalization for shingles in February, some of which had not been publicly disclosed. The shingles infection extended to her face and neck, resulting in vision and balance impairments, as well as facial paralysis known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
Additionally, the virus led to a previously undisclosed case of encephalitis, a rare but potentially debilitating complication of shingles. A spokesman confirmed on Thursday, following the initial report by The New York Times, that the encephalitis condition had “resolved itself” in March.
Post-shingles encephalitis, marked by brain inflammation, can result in persistent challenges for patients, including memory or language impairments, sleep disorders, confusion, mood disorders, headaches, and difficulties with mobility. Older individuals typically face more significant obstacles in their recovery.
Prior to her recent illness, Feinstein had already experienced notable memory issues, leading to concerns about her cognitive abilities, the Times noted, adding:
The grim tableau of her re-emergence on Capitol Hill laid bare a bleak reality known to virtually everyone who has come into contact with her in recent days: She was far from ready to return to work when she did, and she is now struggling to function in a job that demands long days, near-constant engagement on an array of crucial policy issues and high-stakes decision-making.
Feinstein’s office declined to respond to specifics regarding Feinstein’s condition in the Times’ article except to say that the long-serving Democratic senator continues to deal with the after-effects of Ramsay Hunt Syndrome.
Her office also offered this brief statement, allegedly from Feinstein herself which said: “I’m back in Washington, voting and attending committee meetings while I recover from complications related to a shingles diagnosis. I continue to work and get results for California.”
Meanwhile, Feinstein’s colleagues have begun to openly express concern for her condition, including GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who called Feinstein his “dear friend.”
“She’s a dear friend,” the GOP lawmaker told CNN’s Capitol Hill correspondent Manu Raju. “As a friend, you can see she’s hurting.”
Meanwhile, Raju asked Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on which Feinstein and Graham serve, if she should resign her seat before January 2025, when her current term expires.
“I can’t be the judge of that,” he said. “But I will tell you that she has to make that decision for herself and her family as to going forward. But we’re happy to have her back.” He added that he’s “monitoring her medical condition almost on a daily basis.”
According to Liz Kreutz, a reporter for ABC7 San Francisco, when she returned to the Senate last week, Feinstein’s office said the senator is “experiencing vision/balance impairments & at times will need to use a wheelchair to travel around the Capitol.”
Feinstein’s office released a statement regarding her condition and offered some explanation.
“Even though I’ve made significant progress and was able to return to Washington, I’m still experiencing some side effects from the shingles virus,” she said. “My doctors have advised me to work a lighter schedule as I return to the Senate. I’m hopeful those issues will subside as I continue to recover.”
