When Obama announced to his wife Michelle that he was running for President, she made him promise to quit smoking. For a while it appeared that Barack Obama was sticking to his promise. But he himself has confessed to giving in to the urges once in a way after moving into the White House.
Obama paid a visit to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland a few days ago for a routine checkup. The checkup found him to be in excellent health and fit for duty. However, the doctors did recommend that he “continue smoking cessation efforts.” In plain English that means “quit smoking, enough is enough”. Obama said that his wife and kids were constantly at him to kick the habit. He also said that he never smokes in front of them and nor does he have one daily. He did, however, admit to it being a struggle to quit.
Obama was also scanned for signs of colorectal cancer, a leading cause of death among African Americans. Cancer is of special concern in the case of Obama as his mother and another relative died of the disease. Fortunately, the President did not show any signs of it and was cleared of any symptoms. He was prescribed a “lower extremity muscle strengthening program” to help relieve pain he occasionally felt in his knees.
After the checkup, Obama visited soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan who were being treated at the same medical center. His next checkup is scheduled for August 2011.
