Feinstein Undergoes Surgery on Tendon Severed When She Fell

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein will recuperate at home this week after successful surgery to repair a severed tendon in her left leg, her office said Tuesday.

The 67-year-old Democratic senator, who is seeking reelection, underwent surgery Tuesday at the Stone Clinic in San Francisco. The two-hour operation was undertaken three weeks after Feinstein broke her leg in a fall at her vacation home in Aspen, Colo.

After that Labor Day accident, surgery had been postponed in the hope that the tendon would heal. When it did not, Feinstein went ahead with the operation, which required the use of a donor tendon taken from a 22-year-old Texas gunshot victim.

“I am very grateful to the donor and the donor’s family,” Feinstein said in a statement released by her office. “I hope one day to be able to thank the family for this irreplaceable gift.”

It was unclear when Feinstein would return to work in Washington or continue her campaign for reelection against Rep. Tom Campbell of San Jose.

But her campaign said the senator has agreed to two televised debates with Campbell in mid- to late October. The time and location of the debates are undetermined, but Feinstein’s representatives said she has agreed that one event should be in Southern California and the other in the northern part of the state.