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Saturday, April 14, 2007
First Gentleman still on ventilator; infection feared
* Arroyo to push through with China trip
ON THE fourth day after his open-heart surgery at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo was given antibiotics to prevent possible infections.
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Attending physician Juliet Cervantes also said Friday morning that doctors have decided not to wean Arroyo yet from a ventilator machine.
"It is not yet established; a possibility. But we will not wait for that (infection) to develop. We already had taken one step ahead because there is a (possible) infection but it is not yet established," Cervantes told reporters.
She said while initial tests have not shown any sign of infection, "we will not wait for it to develop." She described the antibiotics they administered as "wide-spectrum."
The First Gentleman has also started gastric-tube feeding for his nutritional support, she said.
She said doctors opted to maintain him on ventilator support "because more fluids have to be mobilized out."
"The situation at this time not in favor of weaning. We have to support him continuously for the time being," she said.
Cervantes said Arroyo is also undergoing "continuous renal replacement therapy, considering that the kidneys are not adequately functioning yet."
"This is an expected but temporary event after this kind of surgery," she added.
Arroyo is also being given treatment to prevent pulmonary complications, Cervantes said.
Cervantes also said while Arroyo has been "continuously awake", doctors want him to be asleep "more of the time to lessen requirements for oxygen."
She said Arroyo's heart and other organs are doing well.
"The most critical period is over but the condition is still guarded since everything is still very dynamic at this point in time," she said.
Radio station dzBB reported that more Cabinet members visited Arroyo since Thursday night, including Trade Secretary Peter Favila, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap. Manila Mayor Jose "Lito" Atienza Jr. also went to the hospital.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would proceed to China next week as scheduled but would limit her trip to 12 hours instead of five days.
Marciano Paynor Jr., chief presidential protocol, said Arroyo would go to Hainan province on April 21 to attend the Boao forum where she is the main speaker.
"Since the prognosis (on the condition of the First Gentleman) is good and that's a commitment, the President has decided she'll attend the Boao forum," he said in an interview before a special mass for the immediate recovery of the President's husband.
Arroyo made the decision after meeting with members of the Office of the Presidential Protocol and the Department of Finance (DOF).
The President was supposed to go on a five-day visit to China particularly in the provinces of Hainan, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. (JMR/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (April 14, 2007 issue)
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