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‘Diarrhea, not heart attack, downed First Gentleman’


MANILA, Philippines — Not heart attack but just a common diarrhea aborted First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike" Arroyo’s trip to Peru, his doctors said on Saturday. “It was a common diarrhea that some of us get as a reaction to what we eat," said Dr. Juliet Gopez-Cervantes, one of the physicians of St. Lukes Medical Center (SLMC) in Quezon City, who flew to Japan Friday night to check on Mr. Arroyo’s condition. The First Gentleman’s doctors, Antonio Sibulo, Rommel Carino and Juliet Cervantes together with Chief of Staff Jurios Soliman rushed to Japan to check on his condition and to determine whether it was related to his former triple heart bypass operation and the aortic dissection he underwent in April 2007. “We are confident enough to say to you that he did not have a heart attack; it was an acute infection related to diarrhea," she said. The First Gentleman was with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s delegation on their way to the Peruvian capital, Lima, for the 16th Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on Friday night when he complained of back pain and stomach cramps. A chartered plane carrying the delegation was forced to make an emergency landing in Osaka, Japan at about 9 p.m. Friday and the First Gentleman was taken to a hospital. President Arroyo and the rest of the delegation pushed through with the flight to Peru, making a brief stopover in Los Angeles, California. Officials earlier said the First Gentleman was discharged after it was diagnosed that the pain he suffered had nothing to do with his heart problems. Upon his discharge from the Osaka hospital, the Filipinos doctors and his son Rep. Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo accompanied him on his flight to Manila on board a private jet reportedly lent by industrialist Eduardo “Danding" Cojuangco. From the Manila airport, he was taken directly to SLMC for further observation. The First Gentleman did not face a horde of media people who welcomed him at SLMC but her doctors came out to explain that what happened was really life-threatening. Dr. Rommel Carino, who was with the team in Japan, explained that they had to go and check on the First Gentleman in Osaka because he was still under therapy for a triple heart bypass operation in April last year. He said they wanted to make sure that no complications happened. “I’m happy to note to everybody that the heart and the vascular system of the First Gentleman are in good condition, are stable. No heart attack, the different vital organs are good, the remaining dissected aorta did not deteriorate," he told reporters. Dr. Cervantes repeatedly emphasized that there was no heart attack, adding that Mr. Arroyo even walked from the lobby going to his room at SLMC. Pressed on what really caused the First Gentleman to suffer diarrhea, Dr.Gopez said: “Its really hard to identify the cause. … This type of diarrhea is common especially when the digestive system is not in good condition." Nonetheless, she said the First Gentleman needed to be confined for observation and for a blood examination. “We will give him electrolytes ,we have to hydrate him. Other than that, we don’t need to do anything anymore," she said, adding, “the tests that we have done in Japan were satisfactory." Despite stressing that Mr. Arroyo has “stable vital signs," Dr. Cervantes said he will remain in hospital for not more than a week. - Mikhaela De Leon, GMANews.TV
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