Sec Def hospitalized
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What happened:
"As part of Secretary Austin's routinely recommended health screening, he has undergone regular prostate specific antigen (PSA) surveillance. Changes in his laboratory evaluation in early December 2023 identified prostate cancer which required treatment. On December 22, 2023, after consultation with his medical team, he was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure called a prostatectomy to treat and cure prostate cancer. He was under general anesthesia during this procedure. Secretary Austin recovered uneventfully from his surgery and returned home the next morning. His prostate cancer was detected early, and his prognosis is excellent," Walter Reed's Dr. John Maddox and Dr. Gregory Chesnut released in a statement Tuesday.
"On January Ist, 2024, Secretary Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with complications from the December 22 procedure, including nausea with severe abdominal, hip, and leg pain. Initial evaluation revealed a urinary tract infection. On January 2, the decision was made to transfer him to the ICU for close monitoring and a higher level of care. Further evaluation revealed abdominal fluid collections impairing the function of his small intestines," the statement contiues. "This resulted in the back up of his intestinal contents which was treated by placing a tube through his nose to drain his stomach. The abdominal fluid collections were drained by non-surgical drain placement. He has progressed steadily throughout his stay. His infection has cleared. He continues to make progress and we anticipate a full recovery although this can be a slow process. During this stay, Secretary Austin never lost consciousness and never underwent general anesthesia."
Well, there's prostatectomy and there's PROSTATECTOMY. The fact that it was outpatient indicates that it was a minimally aggressive procedure. But, he did spend the night, which gives lie to the "outpatient procedure" we heard about.
abdominal fluid collections impairing the function of his small intestines
Sounds like something got perforated. Most likely victim - the bladder.
Note they call it "fluid," which a euphemism for "urine." Possible it was a bowel perforation, but that's unlikely to happen during a prostatectomy unless it's an open prostatectomy.
They say "urinarty tract infection." That makes it sound a lot less serious than it probably was.
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When I had my surgery, the surgeon warned me to not to bear down and force anything during the two week period I had to wear the catheter as it could lead to very undesirable complications. That meant plenty of fibre, water and nothing binding in the diet. Just let nature flow.
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When I had my surgery, the surgeon warned me to not to bear down and force anything during the two week period I had to wear the catheter as it could lead to very undesirable complications. That meant plenty of fibre, water and nothing binding in the diet. Just let nature flow.
@Renauda said in Sec Def hospitalized:
When I had my surgery
Yeah, but yours was not an "elective" "overnight-stay" type of thing.
It's possible, just possible, that he had robotic surgery which could, perhaps, result in a hospital stay of only one night.
If he had a robotic prostatectomy, that would make my perf'ed bladder theory more likely.
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@Renauda said in Sec Def hospitalized:
My surgery was robotic and did involve an overnight stay just like his.
Ah...
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@Renauda said in Sec Def hospitalized:
My surgery was robotic and did involve an overnight stay just like his.
Ah...
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There are three types of operations.
- Elective - we should do that in the next few weeks.
- Urgent - are you free tomorrow?
- Emergent - Right. Now.
If, indeed, he had a robotic radical prostatectomy, it was "elective" in the sense that it could be scheduled for a future date. I think the administration is tossing that word out to make it sound trivial.
It is not.
Today, hip replacements are "elective" and patients go home the next day, if not the same day. "Elective" ≠ "Simple" or "Minor."
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Oh...
"He (Biden) was not informed until last (Thursday) that Secretary Austin was in the hospital. He was not informed until this morning that the root cause of that hospitalization was prostate cancer," White House spokesperson John Kirby said.
"Nobody at the White House knew that Secretary Austin had prostate cancer until this morning, and the president was informed immediately after."
Austin and Biden spoke on Saturday and it was unclear why Biden did not learn until Tuesday about Austin's prostate cancer.
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There are three types of operations.
- Elective - we should do that in the next few weeks.
- Urgent - are you free tomorrow?
- Emergent - Right. Now.
If, indeed, he had a robotic radical prostatectomy, it was "elective" in the sense that it could be scheduled for a future date. I think the administration is tossing that word out to make it sound trivial.
It is not.
Today, hip replacements are "elective" and patients go home the next day, if not the same day. "Elective" ≠ "Simple" or "Minor."
According to your chart my surgery was elective insofar as wasn’t deemed urgent, although something had to be done - I was told either surgery or radiation sooner rather than later. I choose surgery. I was anticipating July, they called me beginning of June for surgery ten days later.
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strange story
maybe not bladder perf but ureteral injury, which maybe could missed for a few days until the leaking urine causes ileus and would require drainage and maybe a ureteral stent to bridge the hole. that would match the time frame (POD 8 ). bladder injury would probably need operative repair. Bowel injury would be unlikely because that would send him into sepsis almost immediately. and a vascular injury would lead to bleeding, which also would be picked up earlier. so i vote on injury to the ureter. not common but not unheard of.
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Can you imagine if the CEO of a company went MIA for 4 days and no one knew where he was?
Well, not "no one," obviously. Some people knew, and they're not talking.
The board would be holding an emergency meeting to discuss dismissal.
And...no word on what happened. My money's still on a colonoscopy gone sour.
@George-K said in Sec Def hospitalized:
And...no word on what happened. My money's still on a colonoscopy gone sour.
Didn’t an earlier report say a complication from an elective surgery? I wonder if his desire for privacy over that led him to not mention it to anyone.
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strange story
maybe not bladder perf but ureteral injury, which maybe could missed for a few days until the leaking urine causes ileus and would require drainage and maybe a ureteral stent to bridge the hole. that would match the time frame (POD 8 ). bladder injury would probably need operative repair. Bowel injury would be unlikely because that would send him into sepsis almost immediately. and a vascular injury would lead to bleeding, which also would be picked up earlier. so i vote on injury to the ureter. not common but not unheard of.
@bachophile said in Sec Def hospitalized:
maybe not bladder perf but ureteral injury,
My thoughts were that he had some kind of transurethral procedure where a bladder injury is probably more common. But a robotic prostatectomy? Yeah, the ureters.
I've given methylene blue countless times to help identify the ureters - albeit for gyne surgeons who tend to be a bit less...mindful.
