Arroyo undergoes third surgery

MANILA, Philippines—Former president and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has gone under the knife for the third time as her doctors again try to treat her damaged cervical spine.

Marilen Lagniton, vice president for customer affairs of St. Luke’s Global City, said Arroyo “had no fever since last night, 24 hours.” She said doctors had “decided to do the surgery this morning.”

The surgery, which started at around 8 or 9 a.m., would take around five hours, Lagniton said.

Doctors originally set the surgery for Tuesday but it was deferred after Arroyo contracted fever.

Arroyo’s physician Dr. Juliet Gopez-Cervantes told reporters last week that the problem with Arroyo’s titanium implant was not caused by an infection in her cervical spine but was due to her bones that are in “poor quality to hold screws.”

The former president’s low level of calcium, suspected to be a case of hyperparathyroidism, also aggravated Arroyo’s condition although Cervantes maintained that her patient was not in a serious or critical state.

Her nephrologist, Dr. Brian Cabral, also said Arroyo was in “very stable.”

For the third operation, a titanium mesh containing bone graft will replace the titanium implant, said Cervantes. Bone growth from the mesh would fuse the cervical spines and allow the doctors to remove Arroyo’s neck brace, she said.

Cervantes said that her patient would still be in the coronary care unit and would rest for three to four weeks after the third surgery as her doctors monitor her recovery from the operation.

Arroyo underwent surgeries last July 29 and August 10 to place a titanium implant but both attempts failed. Cervantes said that they did not advise the former president to seek medical help abroad.

The Pampanga representative is facing several graft charges and has been placed on the immigration watch list by the Department of Justice.