Takasugi Recovering After Heart Bypass

Continuing his recovery from a heart attack last month, Assemblyman Nao Takasugi underwent heart bypass surgery earlier this week and is resting in a Sacramento hospital, according to the legislator’s chief of staff.

Takasugi (R-Oxnard) had the surgery Monday at Mercy General Hospital and left the intensive care unit a day later.

He is expected to be discharged from the hospital as early as today, said Julia King, Takasugi’s chief of staff.

“I spoke with his surgeon and cardiologist, and they both said he’s doing really well,” King said. “We expect him back in time to vote on the budget, whenever that happens.”

King also said she wanted to clear up confusion regarding the former Oxnard mayor’s condition Friday.

A week earlier, when it was announced on the Assembly floor that Takasugi was watching the proceedings on television, many people assumed that it was from a hospital and that he had just undergone surgery. So when news got out that Takasugi had surgery Monday, many believed that it was his second straight surgery--and worried that his health was in decline.

“This was a planned surgery, and everything is fine,” King said, adding that Takasugi is eager to vote on the budget’s tax-cut proposals. “We expect him back very soon.”

Takasugi, 76, apparently fainted during one of his customary brisk morning walks June 22 after suffering a blockage in an artery.

A passerby noticed a fallen man in a running suit and called an ambulance, but authorities were initially unable to determine Takasugi’s identity because he was not carrying identification.

Takasugi is finishing the last months of his term and cannot seek reelection because of term limits.