PM discharged from AIIMS, likely to be back at work in 3 weeks

New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was Sunday discharged from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), eight days after he successfully underwent a heart by-pass surgery and is likely to be back at work in about three weeks.

The 76-year-old prime minister returned to his official
Race Course residence in the morning and the eagerness to come
back home was visible on his face, as he walked out of the
hospital on his own to his car and steadily entered inside and
waved to doctors and AIIMS staff.

"Prime Minister was very cheerful and was enquiring about
activities and happenings. He is on his way to speedy
recovery," Union Health Minister Ambumani Ramdoss told
reporters here.

"I am sure he will recover quickly and it is going to
take him about 2 to 3 weeks to come to office and work. In
fact, in a week's time, he will start working from home. By
the pace of his recovery, I am sure he will come to office in
2-3 weeks," he said.

"He has already started seeing files. We have asked him
to go slow", the minister added. Doctors said the prime
minister may need six weeks to return to full health.

Before getting into the car, the Prime Minister, who
underwent a 11-hour coronary bypass surgery on January 24 for
the second time, thanked all the doctors and staff who
attended on him during the surgery and post-operation period,
PM's Media Advisor Deepak Sandhu said. He was accompanied by
his wife and a daughter.

"He is pleased to be back at home," she said, adding his
physiotherapy will continue.

The Prime Minister was released after the doctors
completed the pre-discharge tests Saturday. He was admitted
in the hospital on January 23 and underwent the surgery the
next day.

The decision to discharge Singh from the hospital was
taken by a team of doctors from Mumbai's Asian Heart Institute
(AHI) led by surgeon Dr Ramakant Panda. Singh left the
hospital a little before 8 AM.

The prime minister, who woke up early this morning,
was so excited about going back that he preferred to have his
breakfast with his family at his official residence rather
than in the hospital.

"The Prime Minister was actually looking forward to going
back home and getting back to his daily routine. He woke up
early and seemed more excited today. He even skipped his
breakfast here because he wanted to have the same at his
house," hospital sources said.

They said Singh also personally thanked every doctor who
attended to him during his stay at the hospital.

The sources said that the Prime Minister began the day
with a cup of tea. Later, he went through the daily newspapers
before getting ready and came out a little before 8 AM.

When asked about post-surgery concerns, Ramadoss said,
"Infection is primarily of most concern for us. And we have
seen that he has recovered very well".

Ramadoss said, "The Prime Minister has been walking in
the last few days. Yesterday, he was walking in the corridor
for quite some time and the distance covered, the doctors
said, was nearly 500 metres."

The complex coronary 're-do' bypass surgery on the Prime
Minister was conducted by Dr Panda, who led a team of doctors
from AHI and AIIMS. He was moved out of the ICU on January 28.

Ahead of his discharge, doctors had completed the process
of installing all the required machines at his official
residence to monitor his condition.

Cardiac rehabilitation specialist Dr Ashish Contractor
from AHI and Dr Vijay D'Silva besides three nurses from the
Mumbai-based hospital will monitor the Prime Minister's
condition at his residence. PTI SWT