Frankenveep

Four heart attacks, five operations from top to bottom, and still-- it's alive.

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney walked with a cane Wednesday as he returned to work at the White House after weekend surgery to repair aneurysms behind both knees.

Cheney appeared to move gingerly in the Rose Garden when he appeared with President Bush and military leaders. Bush glanced behind him to see the vice president's progress down several steps.

"He's feeling good, getting along great," said Cheney's spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride. She said his recovery was exceeding doctors' expectations. (. . .)

The 64-year-old vice president has a lengthy history of heart problems. He has had four heart attacks _ the first when he was only 37 _ quadruple bypass surgery, two artery-clearing angioplasties and an operation to implant a special pacemaker in his chest.