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| By Israel Insider staff and partners January 7, 2006 |
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Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's latest brain scan on Saturday showed a slightly easing of swelling, but he remains in critical condition with his life in danger, a hospital official said.
In his first briefing on the prime minister's condition in more than 24 hours, Hadassah Hospital director Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef said Sharon's vital signs were stable. Doctors will decide Sunday when to lift Sharon's induced coma, meant to give his brain time to heal, to examine the extent of his neurological damage, Mor-Yosef said.
"First we have to stabilize the situation and fight for the life of the prime minister," Mor-Yosef said. "Then we will be able to evaluate the different neurological findings." Asked whether Sharon's life could be saved, he replied, "We believe it's possible."
Still, the tone of his remarks seemed intended to reduce expectations of recovery.
When waking Sharon out of his coma, doctors will be "looking for some sort of response," Mor-Yosef said. "If there is no response, that would be bad news."
Sharon was admitted to the hospital Wednesday after suffering a debilitating stroke. He has since undergone surgery twice to stop bleeding and relieve pressure inside his skull. Although doctors treating him have not offered a prognosis, outside experts have said the outlook is grim. Aides said they don't expect him to return to the prime minister's office.
The hospital, which initially had translated the prime minister's condition as "serious," is now using the word "critical" for the Hebrew word "kasheh." The Hebrew term used has not changed.
Mor-Yosef said the scan showed a "slight improvement" over previous scans, but stressed that didn't necessarily mean an improvement in his condition.
At synagogues throughout Israel on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, worshippers recited a "mi sheberach" for Sharon -- a prayer of well wishes. Israelis called out "Ariel, son of Vera," his mother's name.
Standing outside a Jerusalem synagogue, David Zvuluni huddled with three other worshippers, speaking about the Israeli leader's failing health. He said he was against Sharon's recent withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but at this moment wished him only well.
"I don't believe there's a synagogue in the country that's not praying for Sharon," he said. "There are just a few lunatics, but the rest of the people of Israel are all praying for him, even those, like us, who opposed him."
Worshippers at Hadassah Hospital also said a prayer for Sharon on Saturday.
Sharon was rushed to Hadassah on Wednesday night after complaining of weakness. He suffered a major stroke in the ambulance, and underwent emergency surgery on Thursday and Friday to stop bleeding in the brain and relieve swelling inside the skull.
Hospital director Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef reported that a brain scan following Friday's five-hour surgery showed "significant improvement" compared with a pre-operative scan, but said Sharon remained in serious condition.
Outside experts have said the prognosis looks grim, given the severity of the prime minister's stroke.
An official determination on Sharon's condition won't take place before Sunday, after doctors wean him off drugs meant to keep him in a medically induced coma and give him time to heal, Krumer said. They have given no specific information on his brain function.
"There is always some damage when you have cerebral hemorrhage," Dr. Felix Umansky, the chief neurosurgeon operating on Sharon, told The Associated Press on Friday.
"We cannot assess the damage because he is under anesthesia all the time. We need to wait and see what will happen once we reduce the medication which keeps him under sedation," Umansky said.
Sharon's stroke followed another mild one two weeks earlier and threw the country into turmoil. His deputy, Ehud Olmert, was quickly named the acting prime minister.
Olmert took calls from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Friday, a sign the Israeli government was moving ahead without its hard-charging leader.
Rice, who canceled a six-day trip to Indonesia and Australia because of the Mideast situation, told Olmert that "every U.S. citizen, from the president to the last citizen, are praying for Sharon's health," Olmert's office said.
Key members in Sharon's Kadima Party said they would rally around Olmert, easing concerns that the movement, which Sharon founded two months ago to run in March 28 elections, might fracture in his absence. A new poll showed Kadima taking slightly fewer seats in parliament under his leadership than it would have under Sharon, but still emerging strong enough to form the next government.
Israeli officials have said the elections would proceed as scheduled, regardless of Sharon's fate.
Palestinian leaders, holding a parliamentary election of their own Jan. 25, said they were in touch with Israeli officials about Sharon's condition. "We are closely monitoring the situation," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.
On Friday, one of Israel's chief rabbis, Shlomo Amar, took to the airwaves to advise Israelis which psalms to read for Sharon. "All that is left to do is to pray," Israel's other chief rabbi, Yona Metzger, said.
Shmuel Rabinovitch, rabbi of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest shrine, said he received dozens of e-mails praying for Sharon's health that he printed out and stuck in the cracks of the holy site. Callers from as far away as Venezuela and the United States asked for advice in praying for Sharon, he said.
With little hope that Sharon would return to power, Israelis mostly clung to memories of the charismatic leader who left his mark on almost every aspect of Israeli life, fighting in all its battles and capping his legacy as an immensely popular prime minister.
"He's like an old car. You know they don't make old cars like that anymore," said Haim Zanko, 23, of Tel Aviv, who prayed for Sharon at the Western Wall.
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