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Reagan recovering after successful hip surgery |
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January 15, 2001
SANTA MONICA-- (AP) - Former President Ronald Reagan remained hospitalized in stable condition on Sunday after undergoing surgery to repair a hip fracture suffered during a fall. Reagan, 89, was placed under general anesthesia on Saturday before a series of pins, screws and a plate were used to put the his hip back together. The surgery, originally expected to last three hours, took just over an hour. While he would be able to complete most of his recovery and rehabilitation at home, Reagan was likely to be hospitalized for seven to 10 more days, lead orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kevin Ehrhart said Saturday. The doctor said Reagan would need to use a walker when he regains mobility. "The condition of the president's tissue, specifically the muscle and bone, was that of a much younger man, which obviously helps substantially with his recovery," Ehrhart said. Nancy Reagan has been with her husband since he was hospitalized Friday afternoon at St. John's Health Center after falling at the couple's Bel-Air home, said Joanne Drake, Reagan's chief of staff. Daughter, Patti Davis, and son, Michael Reagan, visited Saturday. Youngest son, Ron Reagan, telephoned and plans to visit his father in the hospital in a couple of days, Drake said. Reagan's eldest daughter Maureen has been undergoing cancer treatments for melanoma at the same hospital since Dec. 11. Shortly before leaving the White House for Camp David late Saturday, President Bill Clinton said: "I've sent my concern and Hillary's to President Reagan and Mrs. Reagan," Clinton said. "I wish him well in his surgery. Our prayers are with him." Mrs. Reagan was called before the surgery by President-elect Bush. Former President Gerald R. Ford called during the surgery while the Rev. Billy Graham sent a faxed message wishing the Reagans well. At 69, Ronald Reagan was the oldest man ever elected president of the United States. He maintained a thumbs-up demeanor for the public after a 1981 assassination attempt in which he was hit in the upper chest by a bullet. He also went through several bouts with illness - including surgery for skin cancer, to remove a suspicious polyp and for enlargement of the prostate - during and after his presidency. He announced in November 1994 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, a progressive, irreversible neurological disorder. Reagan said in a letter to the American people he hoped his disclosure would improve public knowledge about of the disease, as his past disclosures had raised awareness about cancer. "At the moment I feel just fine," he wrote. "I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done." --- On the Net: Hip information from American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons: http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/ The Reagan Foundation: www.reaganfoundation.org/
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