MANILA, Philippines — The husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who in better days had cheered at ringside for Manny Pacquiao in most of the boxer’s fights in the United States, was fully conscious Sunday but was barred by his doctors from viewing the televised bout.
Dr. Juliet Gopez-Cervantes, the main attending physician of Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, admitted to reporters that Arroyo was already awake at 6 a.m., talking to the President and some of their grandchildren.
Someone raised the matter of allowing him to watch the fight because he was a boxing patron and a staunch Pacquiao fan.
But now he was recuperating from the 10-hour open heart surgery he underwent on Monday at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City.
“We talked about it this morning,” Cervantes said, and the medical team, including members of the President’s family, agreed not to tell him if Pacquiao lost the fight.
Consensus
Cervantes said the members of the medical team had reached a “consensus” to inform him of the result if it was “favorable.”
Asked why, Cervantes said: “So as not to increase his blood pressure.”
The President’s husband had led several Philippine delegations to Las Vegas to watch Pacquiao’s bouts with Mexican boxing legends.
At the end of these million-dollar boxing matches, Pacquiao acknowledged Arroyo’s support.
Huddled before TV set
St. Luke’s almost came to a halt soon after the bout started at noon on free TV. TV crews, reporters and bystanders huddled before a TV set as Pacquiao battled Mexican Jorge Solis.
Nurses and even delivery crews of fast-food chains joined the crowd at the main entrance in watching the fight.
It was noticeably quiet at the hospital’s emergency room during the whole bout. Reporters did not spot any ambulance or patient rushing in to get emergency treatment.
First audible words
At dawn Sunday, Arroyo uttered his first audible words to the delight of the President and a team of medical doctors, which has been tracking his condition since he was operated on.
“At St. Luke’s,” said the President’s husband when asked by Cervantes of his whereabouts shortly after he opened his eyes at 6 a.m.
Cervantes told reporters that her patient was starting “to verbalize.”
“I slept better last night,” she quoted Arroyo as saying. But he appeared a bit sleepy though.
Arroyo had uttered some words on Saturday though not so audibly.
At bedside
While the medical team was watching, he mumbled a few words to Ms Arroyo, granddaughter Mikaela Gloria, and son Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, who were all at his bedside when he woke up.
“By tomorrow, he could be conversant,” Cervantes said.
Representative Arroyo, who left before noon, later told reporters that the most critical period in post-operative care appeared to have passed.
“He’s feeling better now,” said the reelectionist lawmaker.
Continuously improving
Based on a medical bulletin released at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, the President’s husband was in relatively good shape.
Cervantes read the bulletin before reporters and gladly faced the TV cameras, saying Arroyo “is continuously improving.”
She said all the vital organs were functioning well — kidneys, heart, gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas.
Back pain
“He complained of back pain,” said the doctor who readily assured Arroyo that it was due to a prolonged bed rest after surgery.
Cervantes expected that the President’s husband to be completely “off dialysis” by Tuesday.
The doctor, who at one point lost her cool while parrying questions last week, appeared jovial, even joking that she wished the hospital would not have to issue daily medical bulletins “so that you’re not also tied up here and life will continue.”
On Saturday, a jubilant Cervantes reported that her patient was taken off a respirator after he produced “530-cc of newly formed urine,” which meant that he was out of danger and on the road to full recovery.
“So the kidneys are functioning. The lungs are functioning. Everything is functioning right now. (He is) out of danger,” she said at the time. “If he continuously produces urine then there will be no need for dialysis anymore.”
The latest medical bulletin said:
• Kidneys are already functioning (with significant amount of urine). He needs less and less support from the renal replacement therapy.
• Heart is doing well. Blood pressure is adequately controlled with acceptable heart rate.
• Gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas are stable although still closely monitored for any possible complications.
• Stable neurologic status, but still a bit sleepy and our assessment is this is still the effect of the anesthesia given to him during surgery.
• Surgical status also stable, tubes and drains already being mobilized.
One of the drains is set to be removed Monday.
Risk of infection
Cervantes said the “risk of infection is still a possibility, especially catheter-related IV infection. Hence, adequate antibiotics are being given, besides pulling out catheter and IV lines as early as possible.”
“He is still on bedside rehabilitation, with the plan of gradually mobilizing him,” she said.
But overall, the medical team said the President and her family were “happy with the developments.”
“We thank you all for your prayers and ask you to join us in continuing to pray for the complete recovery of [Arroyo],” said Cervantes, a gastroenterologist and hepatologist.
With the good news, the President slowly resumed her presidential duties, motoring to Smokey Mountain in Tondo, Manila, to hear Mass with members of Team Unity’s senatorial candidates.
