Castro Reportedly Did Not Want Colostomy

[kskiska]

MADRID, Spain (AP) - Fidel Castro himself told surgeons not to perform a colostomy, opting instead for a course of surgery that produced a complication leaving the Cuban leader in far worse condition, according to a newspaper report Wednesday.

After removing an inflamed piece of Castro's large intestine in an operation last year, the doctors connected the remainder directly to his rectum, rather than attaching a colostomy bag, El Pais said, quoting two medical sources at Madrid's Gregorio Maranon hospital. The operation failed when a suture burst.

``The Cuban dictator and his advisers are the ones who decided on the surgical technique that has led to the complications,'' the paper said.

While the newspaper article did not name the sources, one of the journalists who wrote it told The Associated Press that both were doctors at the hospital. The journalist, Oriel Guell, said none of the information in articles published Tuesday and Wednesday came from surgeon Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, who flew to Cuba in December to treat the 80-year-old Castro.

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6353610,00.html

[MADem]

1. The 'unmanly' bag appears to be his undoing.

A lot of people are reluctant, if given the choice, because they're afraid they'll be stuck like that. But it beats ending up dead. I find it very interesting how ole Hugo isn't vehemently DENYING any health issues like he was before....

Experts say it's possible Castro and his surgeons went for the riskier procedure to spare him the indignity of being temporarily attached to a colostomy bag for waste removal. In standard colostomies, patients are dependent on such bags for approximately six weeks.

Attempting to reattach the colon to the rectum is an inherently trickier surgical procedure, since waste can leak into the abdomen, causing infection.

``It sounds like they took a gamble and they lost,'' said Dr. Peter Shamamian, an associate professor of surgery at New York University School of Medicine, referring to Castro's surgeons.

Though Shamamian said it was difficult to speculate on Castro's condition, he said colostomies are a standard procedure that do not usually result in serious complications.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a close friend of Castro, said Wednesday that the report of Castro being near death was speculation, but did not elaborate. ....

[Say_What]

14. Unidentified sources... hellooo more rumors and Frist-style opinions...

From the article:

...Garcia Sabrido, the hospital's chief surgeon, declined comment Wednesday but said in an interview posted on CNN's Web site that El Pais' account of Castro's condition being grave was wrong.

``According to my information, there is even some progressive improvement,'' Sabrido was quoted as saying. ``The only truthful parts of the newspaper's reports are the name of the patient, that he has been operated on, and that he has had complications. The rest is rumors.''

[aquart]

2. Vanity kills.

[Say_What]

12. Wasn't about vanity... the riskier operation would possibly have had him

on his feet faster. Instead, more complications.

[TomInTib]

3. Looks as though he is shit out of luck...

and, yeah, I know that I am going to Hell for that one.

I just couldn't help myself.

[Kiouni]

5. nice.

lol

[originalpckelly]

13. The shit is about to hit the fan?

:scared:

:grr:
^^Me burning along with you.

[Imagevision]

4. castro should just die already, Bush can bring him to the states for a tour

and remove some of the heat is surge plan is experiencing.

[dweller]

6. To his long and healthy life !

and may the *moron have to drag his full bag of shit to the end of his long, flodded, miserable days.

dp

[Warren Stupidity]

7. Nobody wants one.

But this was a stupid choice.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. It's always curious to me which news stories people believe

And which news stories people don't believe.

This sounds like a pack of bullshit to me, but many people seem to be happy enough to believe it, probably because it satisfies some desire or other.

Some of the posts on this thread already sound like the most trite and preposterous propaganda produced by the Miamicubanos, and that can get pretty trite and preposterous indeed.

I'm neither here nor there with Castro, but this story itself seems like a bag of shit.

[soothsayer]

9. I too read every Castro story with a grain of salt. Figure it's all spin

spin spin. A print version of radio marti.

[Say_What]

15. You are correct and that was confirmed by Castro's doctor

and you are correct also about most of the posts being regurgitated propaganda.

From the article:

...Garcia Sabrido, the hospital's chief surgeon, declined comment Wednesday but said in an interview posted on CNN's Web site that El Pais' account of Castro's condition being grave was wrong.

``According to my information, there is even some progressive improvement,'' Sabrido was quoted as saying. ``The only truthful parts of the newspaper's reports are the name of the patient, that he has been operated on, and that he has had complications. The rest is rumors.''

He provided no new details about Castro's health.

[noonwitch]

10. There are better surgical options than he had

I know someone who had a colostomy, due to ulcerative colitis. She had a J pouch made out of her rectum and part of her small intestine, so that she wouldn't have a colostomy bag for her entire life.

Either Cuba's socialist paradise has second-rate medical care, or Fidel would be a poor risk for this procedure due to his age and condition (probably both). It takes a long time to heal from the procedure, and because of the nature of it, there are usually chronic infections for a while afterwards until everything heals up completely.

[Mika]

16. Of course, only in Cuba are there poor medical decisions made by patients.

Most all doctors I know (and I know a quite a few) do the best that they can within the boundaries that the patients set.

Doctors try to give patients options. Most try to persuade the patients to do safest procedure and at the same time try to enable the patient to be in control, or at least a participant in the process.

[rocktivity]

11. Well, not even a dictator

wants to be remembered as needing an artifical anus.


rocknation