Pataki's Post-Surgery Surgery

While Governor Pataki might not care about the state of NYC's public schools - or NYC, he sure does like its hospitals: He headed to NY Presbyterian Hospital yesterday for a second surgery to clear an intestinal blockage that was preventing him from, um, being regular. This sent the local news media looking for a crash course in GI medicine, in search of new ways to obliquely refer to bowel movements but still make sure readers understood their governor was horribly constipated after his appendectomy last week. From what Gothamist has read, parts of the Governor's small instestine (aka, the "bowel") are sticking together, possibly because they are swollen post-surgery, causing a blockage. Doctors who aren't treated the governor are having a field day giving their expert opinion; some suspect it's a mechanical bowel obstruction, and if you really want to get grossed out, here's a medical illustration of the problem. Gothamist is no fan of Pataki, but this must really be horrible. And you must love the Post for implying that the doctors upstate must have screwed something up as Pataki had to moved to Manhattan for the second procedure. At any rate, Pataki had his surgery yesterday afternoon and is recovering nicely.

The way we look at it, with three governors being sick/injured, odds are that Governor Corzine will suffer a terrible blood blister in the next few days.