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Mike Arroyo leaves hospital, to undergo cardiac rehab


First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo on Wednesday was discharged from the St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig City, 13 days after he was confined there due to heart problems. But Dr. Juliet Cervantes, Mr. Arroyo's attending physician, was quoted in a radio dzBB report as saying that while her patient was allowed to leave the hospital, he would still have to undergo a physical cardiac rehabilitation six days a week. The procedure will require Mr. Arroyo to regularly visit St. Lukes for three days — every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The other part of the rehabilitation will have to be conducted in Malacañang for the remaining days of the week. Wearing a dark polo shirt and jogging pants, a smiling Mr. Arroyo — accompanied by the group of doctors who attended to him — emerged from the lobby of the hospital at about 11:55 a.m. His wife President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and granddaughter Michaela Gloria Arroyo were also beside Mr. Arroyo as he exited the hospital. The First Gentleman even posed for the cameras and waved to reporters before proceeding to a Mercedes Benz car that took him back to the Palace.


Doctors said the First Gentleman is still wearing abdominal muscle support to protect his body while traveling back to Malacañang. The doctors said the rehabilitation progam would allow Mr. Arroyo to regain his strength and prevent the symptoms of his heart ailment to return. "There's always a possibility [that] the symptoms [might come back]... and that should alert him to come back to the hospital," said Dr. Rommel Cariño. Mr. Arroyo was rushed to St. Luke's at the Global City last March 25 after suffering complications from the re-dissection of the thoracic aorta. The incident forced Mrs. Arroyo to cancel her engagements and ultimately set up a temporary "office" inside the hospital to attend to her work while taking care of her husband. Cariño clarified that despite the complication, a surgical operation was not necessary "because there were no compression to the vital organs." "But once organs are compressed, that's the time that we have to intervene," he added. Doctors also advised the First Gentleman to "stay at home" at all times and refrain from doing strenuous activities. A QTV Balitanghali report said Mr. Arroyo would no longer be able to accompany his wife in her campaign sortie in Pampanga, where she is running as congresswoman for the province's second district. — Mark Merueñas/RSJ, GMANews.TV
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