Reagan Remains in Stable Condition After Surgery

Former President Ronald Reagan remained in stable condition Sunday, eating meals and preparing to sit up as he began recovering from the broken right hip he suffered in a fall Friday in his Bel-Air home.

In a midafternoon statement, Reagan’s chief of staff, Joanne Drake, said that “according to his doctors, President Reagan had a good night” and that sitting up would be the “first step in his physical therapy.”

“He is taking very little pain medication, which, according to Dr. Kevin Ehrhart, his orthopedic surgeon, is quite remarkable for a patient with a hip repair of this nature,” Drake said.

In an operation Saturday, Ehrhart used a pin, plate and screw to knit Reagan’s hip together. The former president will remain hospitalized about another week and the overall recovery is expected to last several months.

He probably will use a walker early in the week, an effort to increase the mobility viewed by doctors as a protection against pneumonia that is one of the major threats in such cases.

Both world and national leaders sent messages to Reagan, who will be 90 on Feb. 6, and his wife, Nancy, who remained at his bedside.

“She spent the night again in his room and although tired, is comforted by the hundreds of phone calls and messages that she has received from around the world,” Drake said.

Among those conveying well wishes were President and Mrs. Clinton, President-elect George W. Bush, former Presidents George Bush and Gerald Ford, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Prince Charles, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.