Bolsonaro says recovery “will be gradual” and warns followers: “We will be back”

Former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) used social networks on Monday (14) to thank and reassure his supporters after undergoing gut surgery on Sunday (13). In an X (former Twitter) publication, Bolsonaro said his health “is stable, but recovery requires intensive care and will be gradual.”

“This was the sixth surgery related to the attack I suffered in 2018, and it is the ninth time I need to be hospitalized for complications arising from that episode. At the moment, there is still no forecast for my discharge. My most sincere thanks to everyone right now.

The former president had had severe pain in the abdomen region since Friday (11) when he interrupted a liberal party event in Rio Grande do Norte and had to be taken by helicopter to the capital, Natal. On Saturday night (12), he was transferred to Brasilia on an aircraft with air ICU.

The obstruction that made Bolsonaro ill in Rio Grande do Norte was a “fold of the small intestine that hindered intestinal transit and was undone during the adhesion release procedure.” After surgery, Bolsonaro was referred to the ICU, where he remained out of pain, receiving clinical, nutritional and infections prevention support, according to doctors.

‘Very prolonged postoperative period’

According to the medical team of DF Star Hospital in Brasilia, the former president’s recovery will be long, and there is no forecast of discharge. During a press conference on Monday, health professionals described the procedure as “complex, laborious” although expected, and the result, as “excellent” and “quite satisfactory”.

“It will be a very prolonged postoperative period. There is no forecast of discharge this week,” said cardiologist Leandro Echenique. Then, general surgery specialist Claudio Birolini reinforced the sensitivity of the coming days: “We have no great expectations of a rapid evolution,” he said.