After undergoing a successful surgery on Monday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said in an address to the nation from Havana that medical results show a favorable outcome after the operation.
“My vital signals are very favorable, including heart rate, normal blood pressure. I have no fever, my temperature is normal and I have no symptoms of infection or hemorrhage, as some were saying. That’s not true,” President Chávez said.
Six days after the surgery, he announced that he is undergoing physical therapy and that “the healing process has been perfect considering the amount of time.”
The president refuted lies spread by pro-opposition media outlets “claiming that I had an hemorrhage or paralyzation in I don’t know how many organs. Those are the same speculators as always who have nothing else to do.”
He also said his surgery confirmed “the absence of lesions suggesting cancer, either locally or in surrounding organs.”
The two-centimeter lesion that was removed on Monday “was a recurring lesion of the initially diagnosed cancer,” he said.
President Chávez was optimistic about the medical results, which dismissed the possibility of metastasis.
“Thank God for this good diagnosis and quick intervention,” Chávez said, adding: “We are very optimistic in this battle, like Nicolas [Maduro, Foreign Affairs Minister] said.”
He also informed that he will undergo radiation after an initial phase of recovery and healing.
Health Minister Eugenia Sader explained that the radiation treatment will be applied in order to “eliminate all the cells in the area. They focus on the area using medical equipment that is very modern, and shine a small light on it.”
“It’s just an hour per day,” President Chávez said, “but we will give further details later because the planning is done based on my rate of recovery.” He added that other complementary treatments have not been ruled out.
AVN / Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / March 5, 2012
