Mr. Fetterman was admitted to George Washington University Hospital last week after feeling unwell during a daylong Senate Democratic retreat. He spent two days in the stroke unit, where he underwent an M.R.I. and other tests that ruled out another stroke and remained free of any seizures, a spokesman said. He has been able to perform all parts of his job, but his latest health scare convinced Mr. Fetterman and his closest aides that he needed a better plan to take care of himself physically and emotionally.
After a life-changing stroke days before the Democratic primary last year, Mr. Fetterman briefly pared down his schedule to recover. But he continued his campaign in one of the most competitive and closely watched Senate races in the nation.
Now, the reality of having missed out on a crucial recovery period has become a source of pain and frustration for Mr. Fetterman and people close to him, who fear that he may suffer long-term and possibly permanent repercussions. His schedule as a freshman senator has meant that he has continued to push himself in ways that people close to him worry are detrimental.
“I stand by John Fetterman and his family,” said Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois. “This is an unimaginable challenge that he has faced in life. He deserves the very best in professional care, and I am sure he will get it.”
Mr. Durbin said he was confident Mr. Fetterman would be able to serve his full term, despite the challenges. “With proper care, which he will receive, he will be back in our ranks and joining us soon,” he said.
During the Senate race last year in Pennsylvania, his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, seized on the issue of Mr. Fetterman’s health in an attempt to revive his struggling candidacy. He was not the only one; Republicans and conservative talk show hosts relentlessly attacked Mr. Fetterman and questioned whether he was fit to serve.
At the time, Mr. Fetterman said he was recovering quickly and living a normal life. His campaign aides insisted he was healthier than a vast majority of the aging Senate.
“I’m running a perfectly normal campaign,” Mr. Fetterman said in an interview with The New York Times in September. At another point he added, “I keep getting better and better, and I’m living a perfectly normal life.”
