Brazil's president given ‘all-clear’ after second surgery

Speaking to the press as he was leaving the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital in Sao Paulo, where he received treatment, Lula said he was feeling good.

“I will rest at my residence in Sao Paulo. I am alive, I am in one piece, and I am very eager to work. I have a lot of work to do,” the 79-year-old leader added, stressing that he would follow his doctor’s advice.

Lula noted that he will have to give up his daily weight training and cardio activities at the gym.

“I confess I was scared by the volume of fluid growth in my head. I was worried by the urgency of the request” to go to the hospital, he said.

“I will try to follow the (doctor’s) instructions with great respect. I am very disciplined. I never think I’m going to die, but I’m scared, so I need to follow the rules,” he said, accompanied by his wife, first lady Rosangela “Janja” da Silva.

The hospital said in a statement that Lula should rest at home and that it would be clear after a follow-up examination when he would be able to return to his duties.

Lula underwent the first operation on Dec. 9, followed by another operation on Dec. 12.

The surgery was deemed necessary after he complained last Monday of a headache while in Brasilia after suffering a fall in October in his bathroom at the presidential residence.