GMA DEVELOPED FEVER, 3rd SURGERY MONDAY POSTPONED
MANILA, AUGUST 25, 2011 (STAR) By Aie Balagtas - Doctors of Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo postponed her third surgery, scheduled for Monday, after the former president developed a fever on Sunday night.
Her doctors at St. Luke's Medical Center (SLMC) in Taguig City clarified that the increase in temperature was not caused by infection based on "various tests" conducted on Arroyo.
"All said tests turned out to be negative. Hence she will be continually monitored," Arroyo's chief physician Juliet Gopez-Cervantes said in a statement.
She furthered clarified that "there is no contraindication to going ahead with the surgery (but) they want to make sure that the fever is completely gone before proceeding."
Marilen Lagnition, SLMC's vice president for corporate communication, could not say how high Arroyo's temperature was, even as she declined to make any comment on her medical condition.
She told reporters that such update should come from Arroyo's doctors.
In the statement, Cervantes said Arroyo "is able to talk, walk around, have her regular meals, watch tv, and she reads a lot."
The statement did not say when the operation will push through "but (hopefully) it can still be done in the next few weeks."
Cervantes said the decision to cancel the surgery was reached after a meeting between Arroyo's family and her medical team on Monday morning.
Had it pushed through, it would have been Arroyo's third spine surgery.
Arroyo's first operation was on July 29, where four of her seven cervical vertebrae were replaced with bone substitutes and titanium implants.
She was readmitted a week after her release on Aug. 5 because the bone implants were "dislodged" due to an infection.
Last week, Cervantes said they found out that calcium problems – and not the infection – was the main cause of the implant displacement.
According to Cervantes, Arroyo is suffering from hypoparathyroidism, which caused her calcium level to decrease and her bones to weaken.
For the third surgery, doctors would have to get bone grafts from her pelvic bones, which will then be placed in a mesh to be attached to her cervical spine.
"Hopefully in the coming weeks there will be growth of bones in the cervical spine so we can remove already the halo vest," Cervantes said.
FROM MANILA BULLETIN
GMA undergoes third spine surgeryBy FRANCIS T. WAKEFIELDAugust 24, 2011, 7:31pm
MANILA, Philippines — Doctors of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo decided to push through with her third cervical spine surgery Wednesday morning.
Marilen Lagniton, St. Luke's Medical Center Vice President for Customers Affairs and spokesperson, told a media briefing that a team led by veteran orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Mario Ver, started the operation on her cervical spine between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Wednesday.
She said the medical team led by Arroyo's personal physician, Dr. Juliet Gopez Cervantes, decided to push through with the operation after the absence of fever for the past 24 hours.
Lagniton said the operation was expected to last for at least five hours.
She added that doctors led by Dr. Cervantes will give another media briefing at noon Thursday to give an update on the surgery.
"Remember, the other day when I told you that kapag mawala na ang fever ni (if the fever is already gone) former President then doctors will do the surgery? So she had no fever since last night (or) 24 hours (ago) so doctors decided to do the surgery this (Wednesday) morning," Lagniton told reporters during a briefing at the lobby of the hospital.
Last Tuesday, doctors cancelled the scheduled surgery of Mrs. Arroyo after she developed fever Sunday night.
Lagniton said tests were also done to determine if infection was the cause of the fever but all tests turned out negative. She said the decision to cancel the operation was made after a doctor's conference with the family of Mrs. Arroyo Monday morning.
A titanium mesh that contains bone graph harvested from parts of Mrs. Arroyo's pelvic bone was to be placed during the third surgery, Cervantes said. Doctors hope that the procedure would lead to growth of bones that will fuse her cervical spine.
Cervantes said that if successful, doctors can already remove the halo vest (also known as a halo ring or halo crown) fitted on the former President last week to immobilize the cervical spine.
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