Crown Prince Haakon told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) on Sunday that King Harald is satisfied and recovering after the successful heart operation on Friday.
“He is fine. And I would like to thank the whole team from the hospital with Bjørn Bendz at the helm who has done an incredible job. What they achieved is very impressive,” Crown Prince Haakon told NRK.
The risk was not high, but it was still a relief to hear that everything had gone well, the Crown Prince admitted.
The king’s health situation will become clearer in the next few days, he added.
King Harald underwent heart valve surgery at Rikshospitalet on Friday morning.
Operated in 2005
An artificial heart valve was then inserted.
Such heart valves usually have a “lifespan” of 10 to 15 years.
Therefore, it is not uncommon for such interventions to have to be repeated after some time – in the king’s case, after 15 years.
Such operations are performed several hundred times a year at Rikshospitalet.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
The first 24 hours are crucial.
My dad – a World War 2 U.S. Army Air Force China-Burma-India master sergeant and veteran – wanted to go to the new World War 2 Memorial in Washington DC in 2009. (He wanted me to go with him, but my baby son needed me to move over here at that moment. Although he wanted to fly, his commander confined Dad to ground administration – fortunately!, as you can read here: http://static.businessinsider.com/6-brutal-facts-about-flying-the-hump-wwii-airlift-route-to-china-2018-6/#1-flying-the-hump-was-central-to-winning-the-war-1 )
However, he had a wound from a past surgery which first needed sealing. He was 89 and surgery for the elderly can be extremely dangerous, but he passed the exam and all the physical condition requirements and so the surgery at the age of 89.
The surgery was a success, and it all looked good, but after 18 hours everything went bad, he had cardiac arrest, and he died. This was at the University of Iowa, one of the best medical centers in the States.
Norway has some of the very best doctors in the world too, and King Harald has now survived 36 hours, so it looks like he’s made it … but he should be VERY careful and follow doctors’ orders … and get moderate, careful exercise as soon as they advise.
So it appears he has a new cardiological lease on life for 15 or more years, enabling him to live on much longer.
It is good to see Prince Håkon able to take on more of the duties too.
I am glad to see that the King is recovering so nicely from his surgery. Also, itis good to see that Prince Haakon can handle the monarchy when his father is incapitated.