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Sharon improves but prognosis still dire
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-07 09:02
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underwent five hours of emergency brain
surgery Friday that doctors said successfully stopped a hemorrhage and relieved
swelling inside his skull. Officials said his condition showed "significant
improvement" but experts said the prognosis remained dire.
Sharon's chief surgeon told The Associated Press it was too early to assess
how much damage the prime minister suffered after two similar operations in as
many days. That determination will have to wait until at least Sunday, when
doctors plan to wean him off the drugs that are keeping him in a state they
described as a medically induced coma.
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert took calls Friday from Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a sign that the Israeli
government was moving ahead without its hard-charging leader. Sharon's Kadima
Party said it would rally around Olmert, and a new poll showed Kadima emerging
victorious in March 28 elections under his leadership.
A television crew reports on Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's health condition using cue cards, outside the
Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem Friday Jan. 6, 2006.
[AP] | Palestinian leaders, holding a parliamentary election of their own Jan. 25,
said they were in touch with Israeli officials about Sharon's condition. "We are
closely monitoring the situation," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.
The White House declined to speculate on how Sharon's illness could affect
the peace process.
"The United States view of the Middle East is that the desire for progress
and peace runs wide and deep," spokesman Trent Duffy said. "The president
continues to pray for the recovery of Prime Minister Sharon."
Rice, who canceled a six-day trip to Indonesia and Australia, told Olmert
that "every U.S. citizen, from the president to the last citizen, are praying
for Sharon's health," according to Olmert's office.
"Despite the difficult situation, this evening Israeli citizens have a little
more hope," Olmert told her.
But experts not involved in Sharon's care said he may have fallen into a coma
by himself as a result of the massive hemorrhagic stroke he suffered Wednesday
while en route to the hospital. In that case, Sharon might not regain
consciousness when the drugs are withdrawn. Interaction with the patient is
required to assess some aspects of brain function.
As the Sabbath descended on the Jewish state Friday, the vigil for the
77-year-old Sharon became increasingly somber. The Israeli leader's aides held a
grim vigil at the hospital and elder statesmen Shimon Peres said he was "very
worried" about his old friend.
At Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, Sharon's sons, Omri and Gilad, camped out
in a room next to their father's at the neurological intensive care unit.
Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar took to the airwaves to advise Israelis which
psalms to read for Sharon. "All that is left to do is to pray," Israel's other
chief rabbi, Yona Metzger, said.
Shmuel Rabinovitch, rabbi of the Western Wall, said he received dozens of
e-mails praying for Sharon's health that he printed out and stuck in the cracks
of the holy site. Callers from as far away as Venezuela and the United States
asked for advice in praying for Sharon, he said.
Sharon was rushed into the operating room Friday morning after a brain scan
indicated rising cranial pressure and further brain hemorrhaging.
Hospital director Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef said the new surgery Friday helped
stabilize Sharon's condition. "Part of the blood clots that remained after the
first operation were drained," he said. "At the end of the operation, there is
no active bleeding and the intracranial pressure has returned to normal."
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