Hospital visits to Arroyo still limited to family

Hospital visits to former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo remained limited to her immediate family on Monday, three days after undergoing cervical spine surgery. This was the order of Arroyo's doctors at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig City where Arroyo had been confined since Monday night, radio dzBB's Glen Juego reported. The report said even Arroyo's legal spokesman, Raul Lambino, was barred from visiting the former president. Pinched nerve Arroyo underwent the surgery on Friday after earlier medical check-ups showed that she had "multi-level cervical spondylosis radiculopathy with kyphosis" or more commonly known as a pinched nerve. This same problem caused her to be hospitalized in June and wear a neck brace for a few days. On Sunday, Arroyo was transferred to a regular room at the hospital after she spent two days at the hospital's intensive care unit (ICU). According to the Mayo Clinic in the United States, cervical spondylosis is "a general term for age-related wear and tear affecting the disks in your neck." "Cervical spondylosis and osteoarthritis are most common in people older than age 55, and both conditions progress with age," the Mayo Clinic said. - VVP, GMA News