Wednesday, April 11, 2007 Rep. Arroyo says First Gentleman’s heart surgery a success By Erwin Ambo S. Delilan
FIRST Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo survived an open heart surgery, his main physician Dr. Juliet Gopez-Cervantes declared Tuesday.
"God was good that He immediately sent the First Gentleman to St. Luke's Hospital Monday, because if we were late by several hours in performing surgery, we may not have the First Gentleman anymore," she said.
The First Gentleman reportedly suffered from chest and stomach pains last Sunday when the entire First Family was in Baguio City for a Lenten vacation.
He was immediately rushed to St. Louis Hospital in Baguio City where he stayed until early morning of Monday.
After lunch, he was motored through a presidential chopper to Manila where President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also immediately accompanied him to St. Luke's Medical Center.
Series of tests conducted showed that First Gentleman Arroyo had a tear in his aorta, the main artery that carries blood from the heart.
By 4:00 p.m., doctors at St. Luke's decided to perform an emergency open heart surgery caused by aorta aneurysm.
The surgical operation started at 6:00 p.m. and lasted for almost 10 hours until Tuesday.
Aside from operating on Arroyo's aorta, doctors also replaced three of his coronary arteries.
But Dr. Ludgerio Torres, director of the Philippine Heart Center (PHC), said the First Gentleman's condition remains "critical" as no one knows yet the final outcome of the operation.
They will have to wait for another two to five days when he wakes up and they remove his respirator," Torres added.
Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo, Jr. (5th district of Negros Occidental), in a phone interview Tuesday night, said the First Gentleman had already woke up around 9 a.m. and started talking to them an hour after.
First Gentleman then told me what really happened prior his stomach pain until he was rushed to St. Louis Hospital, the lawmaker added.
"He's fine. He's talking each and everyone of us (now) and we are very, very thankful to all who offered their prayers and comforted us in times of our crisis," the younger Arroyo told Sun.Star Bacolod.
We, the Arroyos are also giving him 150 percent support matched with prayers and love, the Negros lawmaker added.
The lawmaker said, "The success of the operation means a second life for my brother. This is it and God still have lots of plans for him. That's why we wish him all the best."
Rep. Arroyo also acknowledged the support and prayers of the Negrenses for his elder brother.
The Arroyos are natives of Binalbagan town in Negros Occidental where they owned land estates, mostly in the southern part of the province.
Torres, however, said complex operations like what was done to the First Gentleman entails double risks.
Torres said the First Gentleman might have acquired the disease in the heart because of his "stressful lifestyle."
But normally, he said, people who reach 50 years old and above are target of this illness.
Last year, the First Gentleman had an andioplasty and was advised not to eat fatty foods that could increase his blood pressure.
"He (Arroyo) had a history of peptic ulcer so they did not entertain the other symptoms. It was only after he had undergone a CT-scan that they saw it was a dissecting aortic aneurysm," Torres noted.
A dissected aorta, explained Torres, restricts the blood from flowing in the abdomen and causing stomach pains for the patient.
"It also caused spasm in the intestine so the symptoms are similar to peptic ulcer," he added.(With reports from Sunnex)
