STATE : Roy Rogers Has Heart Surgery

Singing cowboy star Roy Rogers is in good condition after surgery to repair his aorta, his son said.

Rogers, 79, underwent four hours of surgery Monday at St. Mary Desert Valley Hospital, said Roy (Dusty) Rogers Jr.

“He came through it very well,” the actor’s son said. “He’s off the respirator. The nurse kept telling him to open his eyes, and he kept saying no. He’s getting his orneriness back, and that’s a good sign.”

Rogers checked into the hospital Sunday after complaining of stomach pain during church services. His wife drove him to the hospital.

Doctors had monitored an aneurysm, or weak spot, in his aorta for several months, and found that it had bled in one spot, his son said. Rogers had open heart surgery in 1978.