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Friday, September 30, 2005
Surgery ‘adds some good years’ to Cardinal Vidal’s service
By Lovey Lady Villanueva
Sun.Star Staff Correspondent
For almost a year, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal avoided joining the processional march towards the altar during the mass.
That changed after he underwent angioplasty and sirolimus-eluting stent late last year. Vidal, 74, has also survived three cardiac attacks.
Vidal also underwent a few by-pass operations before the angioplasty.
Suffering chest pains regularly, Vidal had to give up even simple tasks like walking and visiting the parishes.
Vidal underwent the sirolimus-eluting stent upon his doctors’ recommendations. The sirolimus-eluting stent is intended to open the artery and keep it open.
It is a tiny heart device, a medicine-coated mesh tune, that props open clogged arteries after angioplasty and balloon stenting.
The stent releases a drug that helps keep scar tissue from forming and re-clogging arteries, addressing restenosis and stopping a vicious cycle.
A savior
Cardiologist Francisco Chio, a consultant of three private hospitals in the city, said angioplasty has already helped thousands of elderly Americans and a number of Filipinos.
Vidal said the procedure has added “some good years” to his life for service.
Recently celebrating his 23 years as the archbishop of Cebu, Vidal said the best part of his life has been spent serving the people of Cebu. He said he is happy to have stayed since he arrived here as a “young” cardinal in 1982.
“The operation has proven to be a savior. With this privilege, I am once again provided with something special, which is a lease in my life. And with that I promise the people of Cebu to serve them well,” Vidal said.
Vidal has had little time to relax. He wakes up at 4:30 a.m. and starts the day with a breakfast. At 7 a.m. he sees his visitors.
Vidal watches his diet and is careful not to eat too much.
“I can still eat a bite or two of salty or fatty foods, especially during fiestas. But I still continue to watch my food intake. Too much of everything, is of course, not good for me,” Vidal said.
(September 30, 2005 issue)
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