Helms Needs Respirator After Surgery
Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), who underwent heart surgery last week, stopped breathing Sunday and was placed on a respirator. Doctors said he is expected to recover.
Helms, 70, a conservative who has served 20 years in the Senate, has been under intensive care since Wednesday, when surgeons replaced one valve and performed four bypass grafts on his heart. He stopped breathing because of fluid in his respiratory tract, said Dr. Bertram Coffer, chief anesthesiologist at Rex Hospital.
Hospital officials said that an anesthesiologist used a squeeze bag to force air into Helms’ lungs for about one minute, until he could be put on a respirator. Coffer said Helms would be taken off the respirator today. His family has visited with him several times, the doctor said.
Helms’ condition report went from “good” to “fair,” but doctors said they expect him to make a full recovery.
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