Washington, Jan. 8 : Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was given a lighthearted welcome back to the State Department after her blood clot health scare, with her top aides gifting her a football helmet to guard against another medical mishap.

The State Department released a photo of Clinton smiling broadly as she showed the football helmet to her cheering colleagues during a meeting on Monday morning.

The 65-year-old was not present from Washington for roughly a month as she first battled a stomach virus and then a concussion that led to a blood clot near her brain, the New York Daily News reports.

Clinton sustained the concussion last month when the stomach bug caused her to faint.

She spent three days at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia after the clot was discovered on December 30.

She is scheduled to visit the White House on Tuesday to meet with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon.

On Thursday, she is set to host Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the State Department, the report added. (ANI)