U.S. Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois is doing well a day after surgery to relieve pressure on his brain after a stroke, his neurosurgeon told reporters in Chicago.
“He asked for his BlackBerry yesterday, so he’s ready to go back to work,” Dr. Richard Fessler said at a news conference today at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
“He has slight facial paralysis on the left side,” the surgeon said. “Mentally he’s doing very well.”
Kirk, 52, is moving his left side very little, Fessler said.
The Republican lawmaker checked himself into the hospital on Jan. 21. Neurosurgeons removed an 8-by-4-inch section of his skull yesterday to relieve pressure. “It is deep-frozen sterilely so we can use it to put it back on” after the swelling subsides, Fessler said.
Kirk may remain in intensive care for a week, the doctor said. Yesterday, Fessler told reporters that it will be “very difficult” for the senator to use his left arm again.
© Copyright 2013 Bloomberg News. All rights reserved.