Bernie Sanders says he�s �getting my endurance back� and �getting stronger every day� after last week�s heart attack, while promising to return to the presidential campaign trail �as soon as possible.�

�I am feeling great,� the 78-year-old Vermont senator said in a 7-minute video posted online Thursday.

He said that, while lying in a hospital bed in Las Vegas, �I thought about a lot of things, needless to say,� including �what would have happened� if he didn�t have health insurance through his job as a senator and Medicare.

Sanders insisted that �made me feel even more strongly the need for us to continue our efforts to end this dysfunctional and cruel health care system.�

�Understand the enormous opposition that we�re facing from the drug companies and the insurance companies,� he said of his promises to provide universal health insurance, if elected, through his proposed �Medicare for All� plan. �We are going to win this struggle. History is on our side.�

Sanders also said he thought, �Yeah, I�ve had a rough week. I�ve suffered adversity and that�s true and I don�t wish anybody to have a heart attack and get scared the way that our family did.� But he added that many people are dealing �with a lot more pain than I am� including homelessness, working multiple jobs but not making enough money to pay the bills or forgoing college because of fears about being overwhelmed by debt.

�We�re going to be out there on the campaign trail,� Sanders said, providing no details except that he would attend next week�s debate in Ohio.

His wife, Jane O�Meara Sanders, has said he would stay in Vermont recuperating until then.

The self-described democratic socialist was hospitalized after experiencing chest discomfort while campaigning in Nevada last week. His staff initially said the stents were inserted for a blocked artery, revealing only two days later that he had had a heart attack.

Sanders took his message directly to supporters in the video after saying he �misspoke� when he previously suggested he may slow his campaigning pace after his health scare. Sanders backtracked in a Wednesday interview with NBC News just a day after indicating that health could force him to change �the nature� of his campaign and perhaps to not do so many events per day � in the short term, at least.

One of his national co-chairs, Nina Turner, seemed to back up that original sentiment, though, saying in a Tuesday interview with The Associated Press that the campaign was examining where and how to make changes to reflect concerns about Sanders� health.

The focus on Sanders� health comes as age plays a significant role in the 2020 presidential campaign. Should Sanders win the Democratic presidential nomination, he would be the oldest person ever elected. So would his 76-year-old Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.

(AP)