Sharon back in hospital with a stroke

[Ecthy]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4582574.stm

[Ninot]

Sad news. I think hes about to be replaced permanently.

[Spiffor]

That's untimely

[Ecthy]

Spiffor, how?

[Az]

Brain Hemorrage

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3195215,00.html

Sharon suffers serious stroke



Prime minister rushed to Jerusalem hospital after feeling unwell; hospital official says Sharon suffered 'significant stroke' and is being ventilated and anesthetized. Olmert designated as temporary Sharon replacement
Ronny Sofer



Sharon suffers serious stroke: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a "significant stroke" Wednesday evening and is currently being ventilated and anesthetized, Jerusalem Ein Kerem hospital director announced.



Shortly thereafter, the hospital director added Sharon was suffering from a brain hemorrhage and has been rushed to surgery. Senior medical officials estimated Sharon is in very serious condition.



The prime minister was rushed to the hospital earlier on his personal doctor's orders after feeling unwell.



Sharon's convoy arrived at the hospital around 11 p.m. The prime minister was taken into the trauma unit where he will undergo initial tests by a team of experts called in to the hospital. Later, the PM is expected to undergo an MRI scan. Sharon is also accompanied by his personal doctor.



Earlier, the prime minister's doctor was urgently called to the PM's private residence in the South, the Sycamore Ranch, and ordered the prime minister be rushed to Hadassah, where the angioplasty is scheduled to take place Thursday.



Sharon first complained of feeling unwell around 9:20 p.m. Wednesday. His personal doctor, Professor Shlomo Segev was called in from his central Israel residence. At that point, the prime minister was conscious. Segev told Sharon's aides he decided to rush the PM to hospital for fear he suffered another stroke.



Sharon was taken to hospital in an intensive care ambulance stationed at his ranch on a permanent basis following his stroke. The prime minister was reportedly sitting down during most of the ride to Jerusalem.



Prof. Segev and Sharon's son, Gilad, rode in the ambulance with him, while the prime minister's other son, Omri, rushed to the hospital on his own.



At this time, it has not yet been decided whether to designate Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as a temporary Sharon replacement.



The PM is expected to undergo a series of tests once he arrives at the hospital to determine his current state. At present it is not clear whether he will undergo the scheduled angioplasty. Sharon was scheduled to undergo a cardiac catheterization Thursday at the Jerusalem hospital under full anesthesia.


Cabinet Secretary Yisrael Maimon and Attorney General Menahem Mazuz decided that Finance Minister and Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will stand in for Sharon while he is under anesthetization.


The anesthetization is scheduled to last 40 minutes, and the surgery will take another 40 minutes. The entire procedure is scheduled to last three hours.

It seems that Sharon is struggling for his life.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Ecthy
Spiffor, how?

israel has an election coming up in March. Sharons new centrist party, Kadima, was expected to do very well, shaking up Israeli politics. If he were to be forced to leave politics AFTER the election, his succesor as head of Kadima (Olmert? presumably not Peres) would inherit the seats Sharon had won. If he leaves politics before the election Kadima wont do nearly as well, IIUC.

[Az]

Cerebral hemorraging intensified by anti-coagulation medicines he's been on since his minor strokes late december.

they've said now that chances for such an occurance were at ~10% in the case of a repeat stroke, and yet he WASN'T near a major medical facility. He WASN'T choppered in to Jerusalem Hadassah.

I think that they sacrificed his health for PR reasons.

[Ecthy]

Conspiracy theories

[Edan]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


israel has an election coming up in March. Sharons new centrist party, Kadima, was expected to do very well, shaking up Israeli politics. If he were to be forced to leave politics AFTER the election, his succesor as head of Kadima (Olmert? presumably not Peres) would inherit the seats Sharon had won. If he leaves politics before the election Kadima wont do nearly as well, IIUC.

In Sharon's absence, Livni and Finance Minister Ehud Olmert probably would vie for the leadership. Olmert is far more experienced, is very close to Sharon and was the first Cabinet minister to back the Gaza withdrawal plan.

Livni, another Sharon favorite, formulated compromises with Sharon's Likud opponents in government and is drafting Kadima's election platform. Her big advantage is that she is more popular than Olmert: Polls show Kadima under Livni winning 30 seats to just 26 under Olmert.

Under Sharon, however, the party is projected to get around 40 seats.

link

Here's wishing him well.

[Winston]

Very sad news, just as I had feared.

I hope he pulls through, he will be in my thoughts.

[lord of the mark]

may hashem grant him a refuah shlemah, and grant all of us peace.

[MOBIUS]

Really mixed feelings about this...

Whilst I have been on record more than once that I think this guy is a war criminal and is guilty of some terrible crimes in the past, if Kadima does not succeed I fear that Israeli politics will slip back to the bad old days...

Binyamin Netanyahu for Prime Minister...?

[Sandman]

Obese septugenarians are not suitable prime minister material. End of story.

[Ecthy]

We've had one before, and he didn't die or suffer from a stroke in office.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Ecthy
Spiffor, how?

What LOTM said