Reagan Says He Is ‘Fine’ After Checkup

WASHINGTON — President Reagan, flashing a thumbs-up signal and saying that he felt “just fine,” underwent a battery of medical tests Friday, which included a checkup on a benign colon growth discovered last year.

Emerging after three hours of tests at Bethesda Naval Hospital, the 74-year-old President was asked by reporters if doctors had found any problems. “Nope,” he replied with a grin. He said he felt “just fine.”

Results of the tests will not be made public until Monday or Tuesday, White House spokesman Larry Speakes said.

Speakes said the exam included “a reassessment of the polyp situation.” But he stressed that it was a routine annual checkup and not based on any symptoms or complaints.

During a test last May, doctors discovered a benign growth in Reagan’s colon. Such growths, called polyps, are not uncommon, but they sometimes grow into cancerous lesions.