Democrat John Kerry entered the hospital for minor surgery on his right shoulder on Wednesday, a "quick fix" to repair a torn tendon that will keep him off the presidential campaign trail for the rest of the week.
The Massachusetts senator, who tore part of his right rotator cuff in January when he braced himself against an abrupt stop on a bus tour in Iowa during the race for the Democratic nomination, said he would be back on the stump "faster than you can blink."
The 45-minute outpatient operation was being performed by Dr Bertram Zarins, chief of sports medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and required general anaesthesia.
"The shoulder has improved but he still cannot use the shoulder without pain," Zarins told reporters. "Unless you repair the tear now it will further atrophy or weaken and cause more problems in the future."
"I really feel great," Kerry said as he entered the hospital. "I'm looking forward to getting it done and getting out."
Kerry, 60, has described the injury as more of an annoyance than disabling and told reporters aboard his campaign plane that the surgery was "a low-key thing."
While recovering, Kerry will have to wear a sling and then use the arm carefully, forgoing the politician's bread-and-butter - handshaking, according to the doctor. That came as a surprise to the candidate who told reporters: "I was like, whoa, when I read that!"
Comments
Comments are closed.