Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli has issued a video message from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Center Monday stating that his health has improved and he can follow news now.
"My health is improving well. As you can see—I can stand up and speak, talk with friends and follow news even after a major surgery," he said in the video message.
He also elaborated about his appendicitis and peritonitis in the message. "Appendicitis is not a disease that comes after taking appointment and sending notice to someone. This comes all of a sudden and it arrived unexpectedly even for me. There was an infection in that (appendix) and it spread outside (peritonitis). It would have been easier to remove that (appendix) if the infection were limited to it. The infection also had to be treated as it had spread outside," he added.
He has revealed that he has to remain hospitalized for a few more days to cure the infection.
He also urged Nepali athletes to earn respect for the country through friendly performance in the ongoing 13th South Asian Games, and sportspersons from SAARC to boost regional friendship.
Oli is hospitalized at Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Center inside the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) premises since Tuesday. He suffered peritonitis and was kept on a ventilator following appendectomy on Tuesday.
He had reached the hospital Tuesday morning after abdominal pain. He was diagnosed of appendicitis and peritonitis and underwent laparotomy (incision on abdominal wall) and appendectomy (removal of appendix).
Peritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, the tissue that lines the inner wall of the abdomen and covers and supports most of the abdominal organs and is usually caused by infection from bacteria or fungi.
Peritonitis, if untreated, can rapidly spread into the blood causing sepsis and to other organs resulting in multiple organ failure and death. The fact that PM Oli's immune system is compromised after the kidney transplant, doctors say, significantly increased the risk of sepsis and organ failure.
Doctors had started antibiotics since Tuesday to prevent spread of that infection. PM Oli had regained consciousness after surgery but had not been able to speak. He would move his eyes to communicate. He started to talk Wednesday morning and the ventilator was removed after improvement in his health. He has now started to eat solid food.
Oli, whose transplanted kidney has stopped functioning, is on regular dialysis in recent times. He underwent fourth dialysis on Sunday.
He underwent the fifth dialysis at Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Center Wednesday evening.
He underwent plasmapheresis seven times in Singapore in August. Plasmapheresis is a term used to refer to a broad range of procedures through which blood components are filtered outside the body.
It was done on PM Oli, who had a kidney transplant 12 years ago, to remove antibodies for immunosuppression.
PM Oli is now said to be mulling another transplant as the transplanted kidney has stopped functioning.
