Lula leaves hospital, says he is calm and will take care of himself
With a hat on his head and waves to the public and press agents waiting outside, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva left São Paulo’s Sírio-Libanês Hospital at 12:22 pm Sunday (Dec. 15), where he had been hospitalized since last Tuesday (10). From the hospital, the Brazilian leader went to his home in Alto de Pinheiros, São Paulo, where he is expected to stay until at least next Thursday (19) to recover.
Shortly before leaving the hospital, President Lula made a surprise appearance, accompanied by First Lady Janja da Silva at the press conference where the doctors informed him he had been discharged from hospital. He hugged the doctors, posed for photos, and thanked God and the medical staff.
“This isn’t an interview, this is just a thank-you session,” said Lula as he began his speech, which lasted around 15 minutes. “God was very generous in taking care of me when I fell in the bathroom,” he declared.
The accident
The president described the fall, which resulted in a bruise on his head. He stressed that it did not happen while he was trimming his toenails in the bathroom, as has been widely reported.
“I make a point of explaining on speakerphone that I wasn’t cutting my toenails. I was cutting my fingernails and I was sitting down. I had already clipped my nails, I had already filed my nails and when I went to put the kit away, […] I tried to move my buttocks away from my seat. The seat was round and small and I could’t bring my butt up, so I fell. I hit my head on the whirlpool bath, and there was quite a bit of damage. Thanks to this team of doctors here, I recovered again,” he reported.
After the first examinations, the president thought he was “completely cured” and could carry out his daily activities normally. “I thought I could do everything: I went back to doing the treadmill and weight training. I flew to Rio, attended [the meeting on] the European Union’s agreement with Mercosur, since it was a matter of honor to make the agreement. I returned to Brazil without any problems.”
Emergency
The president described the symptoms he felt before being hospitalized for the emergency head drain surgery.
“I went to a tribute for Janja on Friday and I was fine. I spent Saturday well. On Sunday, I was feeling a headache. The doctors had warned me that if I had any problems with my head, I had to tell them. I didn’t think I had a headache [because of the fall, but rather] because I’d been swimming in the pool and sunbathing.” The next day, however, he explained that he woke up feeling unwell.
“On Monday, I woke up feeling strange. The headache continued, but I still thought it was the sunbathing. Later in the afternoon, I sent for the doctor in my office and told her I was feeling strange. My steps were slowing down, my eyes were red, and I was really sleepy.”
Surgery
The president then underwent a series of tests at the Sírio-Libanês Hospital, still in Brasília, which found, Lula himself said, “a growing amount of fluid in my head.” He was sent to the hospital in São Paulo in the early hours of Tuesday morning for emergency surgery. “I only realized how serious it was after the surgery was finished. But I’m calm; I feel fine,” he said.
The president said he still feels a little pain in his head. “I was treated here [at the hospital] with great care, despite the pain I’m feeling in my head. I put on a hat so you wouldn’t see the bandage that Dr. Marco has just made. I don’t want you to see it, because I’m a theoretically handsome guy, but my head is making me a bit ugly,” the president quipped.
Emotional moments
Feeling emotional, Lula said he is now “sure he is cured,”adding, however, that he will need to take care of himself and should not do intense physical exercise.
“I need to stay relatively relaxed for at least 60 days, but I can go back to work. I’ll stay at home until Thursday here in São Paulo, I’ll have the last CT scan, and then I’ll go back to work. I have a ministerial meeting to hold until the end of the year, and I’m yet to make a decision on the Christmas celebrations with the recycled material collectors here, which is something I do every year in São Paulo. I’m not going to the beach, I’m going to spend Christmas at home, I’m going to spend New Year’s at home, and I’m going to try to listen to the doctors. I’m really disciplined,” he told journalists.
During his speech to the press, President Lula also said: “I never thought I was going to die, but I’m afraid. So I need to take care of myself and I know how to do that really well,” he went on to remark.
“I have a commitment to this country and to the Brazilian people, and I want to leave my post the same way I left in 2010, head held high, convinced that this country will be much better off,” he concluded saying.
Hospital release
President Lula was discharged from hospital on Sunday. However, doctors have warned that this is not a medical discharge, as the president will continue to be monitored. “He’s being discharged from hospital, not discharged from medical care,” explained cardiologist Dr. Roberto Kalil Filho. For this reason, the doctor said, the president will need to remain in São Paulo for a few more days to be monitored. On Thursday (19), Lula should undergo tests at the hospital, including a CT scan, and depending on the results he could return to Brasília.
The president will not be able to do any physical exercise over the next few days, but he will be able to return to work, in accordance with medical protocol. He is allowed to travel by plane, as long as trips are short. International travel has been suspended for the time being.
