Brasilia, Oct 1 (EFE).- Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was on Sunday discharged from hospital early following hip and eyelid surgeries.
The head of state underwent a total hip arthroplasty, or hip replacement surgery, as well as blepharoplasty, which removes excess skin from the eyelid.
He was admitted to the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital of Brasilia on Friday and was operated on on the same day. Although doctors had planned to discharge him on Tuesday, the head of state left hospital on Sunday afternoon for his residence Alvorada Palace, where he will recover over the next month.
“I was discharged and I’m already at Palácio da Alvorada, where I’ll be working in the coming weeks. Thank you for the prayers and all the messages of affection. I’m recovering to work even harder for Brazil and run a marathon,” Lula wrote on X.
The hospital , which had said that doctors were evaluating his discharge on Sunday, released a bulletin saying that, after “a good clinical evolution,” Lula will continue outpatient rehabilitation in his residence.
In a previous bulletin on Sunday, the hospital reported that Lula had already walked, and climbed and descended stairs with the assistance of physiotherapists.
Dr. Roberto Kalil Filho, head of the medical team responsible for treating the president, told journalists that the recovery process had exceeded expectations.
“There is someone who is going to have dinner at home today!” wrote the first lady, Rosângela Lula da Silva, on X.
The president had been complaining about the constant pain that made it difficult for him to move since the campaign for the October 2022 elections, in which he defeated then-president Jair Bolsonaro.
The president took advantage of the general anesthesia for the hip operation to simultaneously undergo plastic surgery on the eyelids of both eyes.
According to the presidency, the recovery process at Alvorada Palace will require between three and four weeks, a period in which the president will be able to work normally and will not need to delegate responsibilities to Vice President Geraldo Alckmin.
However, he will have some mobility restrictions while he is resting, a time during which he will be assisted by his doctors, and in the first few days he will need the help of a walker. EFE
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