NEW YORK, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Former President Bill Clinton, hospitalized in New York awaiting heart surgery, has received 15,000 e-mails - including one from Vice President Dick Cheney.
Clinton, in a private room at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, is to undergo quadruple bypass surgery this week - a procedure which Cheney also had.
The get-well wishes flooded into Clinton's presidential library Web site and his hospital room in a private wing at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had his own heart scare with an irregular heart beat in 2003, was among the world leaders who telephoned Clinton to wish him well.
Clinton was admitted to the hospital after experiencing chest pains late last week, the New York Daily News reported Sunday.
Earlier, Clinton told CNN's Larry King he's "a little scared, but not much," about his upcoming bypass surgery.
Clinton's stepfather, Dick Kelley of Little Rock, Ark., said the former president must be frustrated being sidelined from campaigning for Democratic candidate John Kerry.
"I think his plans were to help Kerry," Kelley told the News. "But I think he still has time to help him ... He's a fighter, you know. And I'm sure everything will go well."
