Regis On The Rebound After Surgery

The word from actress and talk show host Kelly Ripa is that her "big man" Regis Philbin has come through his heart bypass surgery "with flying colors."

Ripa announced on "Live With Regis and Kelly" that her co-star on the program had the operation Wednesday morning and is already "up, joking around with the nurses" and "harassing people."

Ripa says one of Philbin's doctors says he has "the heart of a 19-year-old."

Philbin had the surgery at a hospital in New York, but the name of the hospital has not been made public.

And Ripa had this message for Philbin: "Nursey-poo is coming with her sponge." Ripa had promised Philbin a sponge bath.

Philbin, who had CNN's Anderson Cooper fill in for him on "Live" for a few days, is expected to be out for about five weeks. There are some other unusual names on the fill-in list, including: real estate mogul and reality show star Donald Trump, "Wheel of Fortune" emcee Pat Sajak, "Survivor" host Jeff Probst, and Howie Mandell, the actor better known nowadays for his gig as ringmaster on the game show "Deal or No Deal."

Philbin broke the news to his fans Monday, in an announcement on the air. "There's some plaque in some arteries and I got to get it cleaned out," said the 75-year-old entertainer, as renowned for his game show hosting - especially, the defunct "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" - as he is for his personal style and successful talk shows.

Philbin said he went to the doctor, and subsequently underwent tests, after feeling chest pain and shortness of breath.

Heart bypass surgery is done when the arteries which supply blood to the heart muscle are dangerously blocked or narrowed. Blocked coronary arteries make heart attacks more likely.

In heart bypass surgery, doctors take a piece of vein from the patient's leg or a piece of an artery from the patient's chest or wrist and attach it to the blocked coronary artery above and below the blockage, creating an alternate route for blood to bypass the blockage.

Heart bypass surgery is also called coronary artery bypass graft surgery, or CABG (pronounced "cabbage").

Monday, talking about the operation which at that point was just two days away, Philbin maintained his customary upbeat tempo, but acknowledged he wasn't thrilled at going under the knife.

"Darn it, I don't want to do it," he said. "Nobody wants to do it, I guess."