Clinton Undergoes Surgery for Condition That's "No Big Deal"

By Linda Orlando

Former President Bill Clinton checked into a New York City hospital early Thursday morning for surgery. The procedure he will undergo is a low-risk operation to remove scar tissue in his chest and fluid that developed in his left lung following his quadruple heart bypass surgery last year. The surgery is scheduled for Thursday morning.

Doctors have said the problem of fluid accumulation in the lungs, pleural effusion, is not uncommon following bypass surgery. But Clinton’s condition is unusual because the fluid has thickened and formed a peeling around his left lung, keeping it from expanding fully. According to Dr. Craig Smith, of New York Presbyterian Medical Center, the lung "would just sit there being compressed and not being ventilated, which presents its own problems because it still has blood flow—which means that unoxygenated blood is being mixed with normal blood, which is not ideal." To remove the peeling that has formed around the lung, long instruments will be inserted through a small incision in the chest, and a video-assisted thoracoscope will be inserted between the ribs to carefully peel off the scar tissue, which is similar to the skin of an onion. The process, called decortication of the lung, must be performed gingerly to avoid damaging the lung underneath. Although the operation is low-risk, there are possible risks associated with it, including minor bleeding and perhaps pneumonia. If surgeons are not able to peel the lung using the thoracoscope, they will have to make a larger incision, which would result in a longer hospital stay and longer recovery time. But the former president should be back to his regular schedule of activities within 4-6 weeks.

Clinton spent the day Wednesday in Florida at a charity golf tournament held to benefit victims of last December’s tsunami in southeast Asia. He appeared relaxed and confident, joking about his golf skills and assuring reporters that he isn’t worried. "I've had an unusual life. If something happens—if I get struck by lightning on the golf course today—I'd wind up ahead of where 99.99% of the people who ever lived did," he said. "I'm just grateful for every day when the sun comes up. But it is not a dangerous procedure, unless something totally unpredictable happens." Hundreds of people have sent good wishes to the former president through his Web site. Well-wishers from all around the world have exuded comments such as, "I will be so happy when I hear that you are golfing again and feeling great," and "Any time you want to play a round of golf you have an open invitation to my Country Club." Earlier in the week, Senator Clinton said about her husband that she was "very confident about the outcome" of his surgery.

Clinton has been very active—some say too active—since his surgery last September. He has presided over the opening of his presidential library in Little Rock, Arkansas, and he has been working and traveling with former President George H. W. Bush on a public relations campaign to raise money for the Asian tsunami victims. In fact, last week Clinton made headlines for sleeping on the floor of their airplane so that the elder Bush would be more comfortable sleeping in the bed, since there was only one bed on board. Speaking to reporters, Bush described Clinton as the "Energizer Bunny" as the two traveled from country to country. He added with a smile that if Clinton’s medical complication was supposed to knock him out, it hasn’t done so yet.

In a statement earlier this week, Clinton’s office said that the condition "has caused the president some discomfort in recent weeks, but he has otherwise been in very good condition, recently passed a stress test and is walking up to 4 miles a day." Early Thursday morning, the Secret Service, police, and hospital security staff conducted a sweep of the walkways and corridors of the hospital before Clinton arrived with his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. They were whisked rapidly through a side entrance to avoid crowds of media outside the hospital. According to Clinton himself, the procedure is "no big deal." He said he’ll be out of commission for a week or two. But, he added, "As soon as I get it done, I’m going back to work."