Tun Dr Mahathir in surgery for infection

PETALING JAYA: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had another surgery on Saturday night because of a wound infection. The surgical wound debridement was carried out on Dr Mahathir at 11.30pm on Saturday night and was completed at 2.30am Sunday, according to a statement from the National Heart Institute (IJN).
"He is currently stable and has been put under routine post-cardiac surgery support," the statement said. The procedure was done by the same surgical team, including Tan Sri Dr Yahaya Awang, that performed Dr Mahathir's second coronary bypass surgery on Sept 4.
Dr Mahathir is expected to remain on surgery support for at least 36 hours for post-operative care, the statement said.
IJN doctors and nurses are monitoring and observing him in the intensive care unit and the statement said the next 72 hours would be a crucial period in his post-operative care.
When contacted, his daughter Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir said her father was doing fine and was under sedation.
"He is a strong and determined man. And it is all in the mental attitude.
"He is starting off from a different point from previously when he was healthy. Now, he is already weak and that was the worry," she said.
Marina added the family was doing all right although it felt like they "were going through the entire surgery again with less time to prepare."
Her blog posting, rantingsbymm.blogspot.com, on Sunday chronicled the episode where she said it was hard to not get emotional but the family kept a brave face for her father's sake as he was wheeled in for the procedure.
She also wrote that she did "downplay" Dr Mahathir's condition in the past week to make it sound better than it was because she did not want to cause worry while the doctors tried to find the source of the infection.
They figured it out on Saturday afternoon, she added and were informed by Dr Yahaya at 3am Sunday that the source of infection had been removed.
"So, please do not worry. He got through the operation okay. His heart is fine. Now it is a matter of recovery once again," she wrote.
Marina also asked Malaysians to pray for her father's speedy recovery.

tunku : let us all pray harder for Tun's health. The family had hide his real health condition from us but i understand why.YA ALLAH, SEMBUHKANLAH HAMBAMU YG BERNANAMA TUN DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD DAN PANJANGKANLAH USIA BELIAU.AMIN.