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Embolization “cuts off the blood supply to a certain part of the body,” according to the National Institutes of Health.
This procedure is mostly done as an outpatient, meaning the patient is discharged the same day.
Dr. Mohamad Allaf, vice chairman of urology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said the planned length of the first lady’s hospitalization is “somewhat atypical but not out of the question,” noting that it’s hard to tell absent more information about Trump. “It may be just out of an abundance of caution and privacy. Certainly, staying a little longer may imply that this is a little bit more of a complex situation.”
It’s unclear why she hasn’t returned to the White House, and experts say, it’s hard to speculate.
Brahmbhatt, also an assistant professor of urology at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, said he would expect some patients to resume some regular activity the day after the procedure. But there could be pain, he said, and to discharge a patient, doctors typically look for three things: “They’ll be waiting to see how she eats. They’ll want her pain to be in control. They’ll want to make sure that the labs show she is stable. Once you meet those criteria, then we can send you home,” Brahmbhatt said.
He said the case could have been more complicated. “Everyone’s pain threshold is a little different. An embolization is pretty painful regardless. Think about it. You are cutting off the blood supply to tissue in the body, which cuts off oxygen, which causes tissue to die, and that can be pretty painful,” Bernstein said.
When his patients ask how long they’ll be at the hospital with a procedure like this, he tries to manage their expectations. “I always tell my patients to prepare for the worst-case scenario, which may involve having to stay three or four days in the hospital, or they could get out earlier, and then that would be even better,” Bernstein said.
On the flip side, he said, Trump may still be hospitalized simply because she is the first lady and is in a military hospital that “doesn’t have the typical constraints of a civilian hospital.” Doctors may be taking a little extra time and care to make sure everything is OK with their VIP.
“She’s in a private VIP suite. Why not let her recover there and make sure everything is all right?” said Bernstein. “Because it would be a lot worse if they let her out right away and she had to go back because of a complication.”
“Since we only have crumbs of information about what the procedure was for, it’s hard to know,” Berman said. But she hopes the first lady will talk about it someday.
“Millions of people suffer from kidney problems, and we want them to know there’s nothing to be ashamed about, and they should be proactive about any concerns they may have. Often, when celebrities like the first lady have a health issue, it raises awareness, which can be good,” Berman said. “And she’s the first lady, so we are concerned for her health and well-being.”
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