World

Havel Recovering From Surgery

April 15, 1998 / 2:59 PM EDT / AP

Czech President Vaclav Havel was reported in good condition in an Innsbruck hospital Wednesday, a day after doctors removed part of his large intestine in emergency surgery.

Doctors said the president's health was "extraordinarily good," but head surgeon Ernst Bodner cautioned that the danger "is by no means over."

There was the possibility of infection, but Havel was not running a temperature and was faring well in the early stages of recovery, he said.

"The president's life is not in immediate danger," another physician, Dr. Helmut Madersbacher, was quoted by the Austria Press Agency.

Havel was flown Tuesday to a surgical ward in Innsbruck from the nearby Alps resort, where he was vacationing, after doctors diagnosed a ruptured colon and acute peritonitis.

On Wednesday, after regaining consciousness from sedation, Havel spoke for 45 minutes with Dr. Norbert Mutz, the head of the intensive care department where he is resting, APA reported.

"At the moment, his condition is excellent, he feels well and reads," Mutz said.

Havel also reportedly spoke to his wife Dagmar, who stays close to his beside, and checked in with his office in Prague.

According to the team of doctors treating Havel, he was to be transferred from intensive care to a post-operative ward later Wednesday.

The 61-year-old Havel has had numerous health problems linked to lung cancer. This is the fourth time he has been hospitalized since December 1996, when he had one-third of his right lung and a tumor removed.

Bodner, who led the operating team, said the president's latest health troubles were unrelated.

What Bodner called a "technically very difficult" surgery was performed by the eight-member team of Austrian doctors for 3 1-2 hours on Tuesday, with Havel in critical condition.

If no complications develop, doctors say Havel should be able to travel back to Prague in about two weeks.

At a news conference in the clinic, Dagmar Havlova said her husband did not feel well on Sunday. On Monday he had a fever and complained of abdominal pain.

During the night, the situation became "quite critical," she said, and Havel refused to eat or drink. She called a doctor from nearby Tannheim who took Havel to the town of Reutte. Havel was immediately flown to Innsbruck.

Well-wishers on Wednesday included U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who sent a fax. Austrian President Thomas Klestil was scheduled to call Havel in the afternoon. Czech politicians also were calling.