Castro "opted for risky surgery"

[southsider2k5]

Of course this report is being challenged by the Cuban media, but it is interesting none-the-less as there has been pretty much zero official tangible news about our favorite Commie.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6270277.stm

 

Castro 'opted for risky surgery'

 

Mr Castro is said to have chosen a procedure with quicker recovery time

Cuban leader Fidel Castro's health worsened after he chose risky surgery leading to grave complications, a new report by a Spanish newspaper has said.

El Pais quoted medical sources as saying Mr Castro rejected a procedure which would have forced him to carry a temporary bag for evacuating.

 

On Tuesday, the paper said that Mr Castro's prognosis was "very serious".

 

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denied this, but said his close ally's recovery would be slow and had risks.

 

A Spanish surgeon who travelled to Cuba last month to examine Mr Castro also said the report was "without foundation".

 

Mr Castro has not been seen in public since undergoing surgery in July.

 

The authorities in Havana have said Mr Castro's health is a state secret, but have rejected speculation that he is suffering from cancer or a terminal illness.

 

Complications

 

The Cuban leader is said to be suffering from diverticulitis, a condition in which bulges in the walls of the intestine become inflamed and sometimes infected.

 

In articles on Tuesday and Wednesday, El Pais quoted unnamed sources at the Gregorio Maranon hospital in Madrid, where Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, who examined Mr Castro in December, is head of surgery.

 

In its Wednesday edition, El Pais quoted the anonymous sources as saying the veteran Cuban leader had personally refused an ileostomy - a temporary bag for evacuation - on the grounds that the recovery period from the procedure was slow.

 

He decided to have the colon stitched to the rectum instead, but it did not heal properly, they added.

 

Other problems followed including peritonitis - or inflammation of the abdominal cavity - and he was forced to undergo at least two further operations.

 

But Mr Garcia Sabrido himself said on Tuesday that any reports that did not come from Mr Castro's medical team should be ignored.

 

'Not cancer'

 

According to Tuesday's publication, the sources said that when Mr Garcia Sabrido visited the president, he had an abdominal wound which was releasing more than half a litre of fluids a day, causing a serious loss of nutrients.

 

The Cuban leader was being fed intravenously, El Pais reported.

 

Mr Chavez, who spoke to Mr Castro by telephone earlier this month, also said his ally was not "in a serious condition as some say, nor does he have cancer".

 

In December, Mr Castro missed a massive military parade in Havana marking 50 years since his return from exile.

 

In his New Year message, he said he was recovering slowly from the surgery, but said it would be a "long process".

[Texsox]

His longevity on the world stage is amazing. I kind of like the "we know what he's like" familiarity over who the hell is this guy and what will he do, of Castro's successor.

[Soxy]

I am not going to lie, the segment on the Daily show about this made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. But, then again, artificial anuses ARE comedy gold.

[Texsox]

I am not going to lie, the segment on the Daily show about this made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. But, then again, artificial anuses ARE comedy gold.

 

/heading to youtube

[Heads22]

I am not going to lie, the segment on the Daily show about this made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. But, then again, artificial anuses ARE comedy gold.

 

 

You're getting the shirt, aren't you?

[Balta1701]

You're getting the shirt, aren't you?

If they sold those they'd make a fortune.

[bmags]

i can't wait for that shirt. Someone'll do it.

[southsider2k5]

Hugo Chavez must not have gotten the memo on El Presidente's condition...

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6281621.stm

 

Chavez admits Castro gravely ill

 

Mr Castro handed over his executive powers in July 2006

Cuban leader Fidel Castro is battling to save his life, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said.

Mr Chavez, a close friend of Cuba's left-wing leader, said he hoped Mr Castro would recover but admitted he faced a hard struggle.

 

Mr Castro, 80, has not been seen in public since undergoing surgery in July and handing over political power.

 

Mr Chavez spoke at the Latin American summit in Brazil in a rare admission of the state of Mr Castro's health.

 

Chavez hopeful

 

Venezuela's president said he spoke to the Cuban leader by telephone for half an hour several days ago.

 

I hope he lives 80 more years, I hope he lives 100 more years

 

Hugo Chavez

Venezuelan president

"He is going through a difficult situation but just like he says, the machine that they have to fix is 80 years old," Mr Chavez told the Mercosur trade summit.

 

"I cannot give details [of his health] because I am not his doctor, and even if I was I would not give them to you.

 

"He's back in the Sierra Maestra and locked in a battle for his life," Mr Chavez said.

 

The Sierra Maestra is a rugged mountain range in south-east Cuba with a long history of guerrilla warfare.

 

After Fidel Castro returned to Cuba from exile in Mexico, he and his fellow rebels hid out in the Sierra Maestra from where they were able to expand their 26 July Movement, building up their guerrilla forces and starting the revolution which in 1959 overthrew the regime led by Fulgencio Batista.

 

"There are those who want Fidel to die... [but] we have confidence he will recover completely.

 

"I don't know when Fidel will die, I hope he lives 80 more years, I hope he lives 100 more years."

 

'Slow recovery'

 

There have been steady reports suggesting that Mr Castro's condition is extremely serious.

 

In an interview with the Reuters news agency, Dr Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, head of surgery at Madrid's Gregorio Maranon public hospital, described Mr Castro's recovery as "slow but progressive".

 

Dr Garcia Sabrido examined the Cuban leader late last year.

 

Earlier this week a Spanish newspaper quoted medical sources as saying Mr Castro opted for a risky medical procedure that led to grave complications.

[Texsox]

Linked

 

[Balta1701]

Hey, Tex, where on the Comedy Central videos page did you find the link/script to embed one of their videos into a post? Got one I'd like to put up, but can't figure out where to get the linkage.

[Texsox]

Hey, Tex, where on the Comedy Central videos page did you find the link/script to embed one of their videos into a post? Got one I'd like to put up, but can't figure out where to get the linkage.

 

It was just below and to the right of the video player. You also have to turn on HTML here for it to work.

[Rex Kickass]

Ailing Castro Begins 750,000 last words.

 

HAVANA—With his condition reportedly deteriorating, Cuban President Fidel Castro called top members of Cuba's National Assembly to his side and embarked on what is believed to be his 750,000 final words, according to Radio Havana Cuba, which broadcast the first 36,000 words of his apparent farewell starting Monday. "I am not long for this world, comrades, so come close, and listen well," began Castro, who was expected to scale back overnight with a mere 12,000 words from his deathbed, before fully resuming with a declaration of grievances and a discussion of Italian cinema in the morning. "…Until oppression and fear are rooted from this world, our lives may end, but our work will only begin. More water please." Cuban government officials are reportedly working out a deal to publish the 80-year-old dictator's historic last remarks as the next three volumes of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.