Sen. Kirk has gall bladder removed
U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk had surgery to remove his gall bladder today and is recovering in the hospital, his office said.
“This morning Sen. Kirk underwent a successful surgery to have his gall bladder removed and is resting comfortably,” a statement released today from the Highland Park Republican’s office says. “His doctor expects a quick recovery.”
Kirk suffered a stroke in January 2012 that required multiple surgeries. He returned to the U.S. Senate in January, about a year after the stroke.
“Saturday morning Sen. Mark Kirk went to Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital with stomach pains,” the statement from Kirk’s office says. “Doctors determined that, due to the fact that he had gall stones, his gall bladder needed to be removed.”
Dr. Kim Sobinsky, a surgeon at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, said in a statement that Kirk’s surgery took 30 minutes.
Sobinsky said doctors made four incisions in the senator’s abdomen, the largest about a half-centimeter long. Sobinsky said there were no complications and that Kirk could be released from the hospital as early as Tuesday.
“Patients who undergo this procedure typically are up and about within a day and fully recovered in approximately two to three weeks,” Sobinsky said.
Kirk was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 after five terms in Congress from the northern suburbs.
Ÿ The Associated Press contributed to this story.