Kirk Meets Regularly With Staffers

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Highland Park), who suffered a stroke Jan. 21, is meeting regularly with members of his staff, according to Dr. Richard Harvey, the physician who is treating the Senator at the Rehabilitation Institution of Chicago Center for Stroke Rehabilitation.

The senator is improving his mobility in his daily tasks and is receiving visits from close friends and family, according to Harvey. 

"Sen. Kirk remains fully engaged in his rehabilitation program. He is demonstrating continued improvements in his mobility for day-to-day activities,” Harvey said. “We are quite pleased with his progress." 

Earlier: Kirk Gets Fully Engaged in Rehab 

Kirk has been walking regularly during his recovery as well as making improvements in other activities, according to Harvey.

A week ago Harvey reported Kirk began walking on a treadmill and performing increasingly difficult tasks. “We are pleased with his progress,” he said Feb. 17.

Kirk was transferred to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Feb. 10 just three days after he successfully underwent surgery to replace the portion of his skull that was removed Jan. 21 to relieve swelling of his brain after the stroke.

That surgery was Kirk’s third since the stroke. The  when doctors removed a four by eight inch piece of Kirk’s skull to relieve swelling in his brain, according to statements from the Senator’s office.

 On Jan. 25,  to accommodate the swelling, according to Dr. Richard Fessler, the neurosurgeon who handled Kirk’s care when the senator was initially treated for the stroke at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

On Jan. 29, , who brought Kirk cards from his colleagues, magazines and some work to do, according to a statement from the Senator’s office.

Kirk checked himself into Jan. 21, where doctors discovered a carotid artery dissection in the right side of his neck, according to a release issued Monday by Kirk’s office. He was transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where further tests revealed that he had suffered an ischemic stroke.