Diego Maradona's operation ended: everything went well, but we have to wait

11/03/2020 10:29 PM

• Clarín.com

• sports

Updated 11/03/2020 10:29 PM

Diego Maradona underwent a successful operation on Tuesday for cerebral edema at the Olivos Clinic, in the north of Greater Buenos Aires.

The injury, a chronic subdural hematoma, had been detected in the last hours after the Gymnastics DT agreed to be hospitalized after presenting a picture of anemia accompanied by a mood drop that had deepened in recent weeks, on the eve of his 60th birthday.

The

of one of the best footballers in history had been visible to all during the inopportune celebrations on the gymnastics court, in the previous match against the Board, of which he decided to participate despite his weak state of health and advice from your environment and your family.

Leopoldo Luque

, Maradona's personal doctor since 2016 and coincidentally a neurosurgeon, was in charge of coordinating an operation that is usually routine for specialists.

Pablo Rubino, Santiago Erize and Fidel Sosa completed the team that first confirmed the diagnosis and later worked as a group in the operating room.

A fan does the vigil in front of the Olivos Clinic.

Before the intervention began, around 9:15 p.m., Maradona underwent a series of studies -including a swab- and the computed tomography scan was repeated to verify injury.

As Clarín was able to find out, the family had questioned the decision made hours before by the doctor.

He even asked to delay the surgery, a position that Maradona took as his own, who finally gave in to the clinical evidence.

Diego will spend a few days postoperatively that have not yet been specified.

It depends on his evolution, which may be a little more complex than that of another patient (no more than 72 hours) due to the clinical picture in which he entered the La Plata clinic on Monday afternoon.

Once he is discharged he would return to the villa in Brandsen where he has lived for a couple of months.

It will be necessary to see what decision their children have who decided to get fully involved in the last hours and handle their father's next steps.

Chronic subdural hematoma is a blood clot and blood breakdown products, of venous origin, that slowly accumulates between the dura mater and the arachnoid mater.

Blood leaks from the veins, forming a pocket that sticks out and puts pressure on the brain.

If the bursa is large enough, it can injure or tear nearby brain tissue, which can damage the brain.

The origin is a head trauma of which there is generally no reference.

This is the case of Maradona, in addition to the fact that many of the patients who present these injuries also carry problems from chronic alcohol intake, an addiction that Diego fought against in recent years after having definitively left drugs.

"It is a routine surgery. The panorama did not change, Diego remains the same, he continues with the same clinical condition, but with a more specific cause," Luque explained in the afternoon after knowing the diagnosis and making the decision, together with Maradona, to carry out the operation as soon as possible.

It would be a long way to go until the intervention began.

The vigil of Diez fans at the door of the Olivos Clinic.

It was then that the operations for his transfer began.

After 6 pm he left the clinic in the provincial capital in an ambulance accompanied by his daughter Gianinna.

An hour later, he arrived at the Olivos Clinic, where Dalma, the other daughter he had with Claudia Villafañe, and Jana, the result of an extramarital affair, also arrived at around 9 p.m.

There were also some of his brothers.

Diego Junior, meanwhile, was permanently communicated with his sisters from Italy.

Maradona's clinical picture has worsened in recent weeks and detonated in the run-up to his 60th birthday. He was in public evidence in the few minutes he was able to be present on the gymnastics court for his team's debut in the Copa de la Professional League versus Board of Trustees.

His personal doctor declared on Monday after admitting him to the Ipensa clinic in La Plata that Diego was anemic and psychologically ill.

This emotional discomfort had an impact on his body: he found it difficult to get up, he ate little and he looked very weak.

The story is not new and was strengthened by the confinement derived from the coronavirus pandemic: the emotional backpack that Maradona carries includes his family short-circuits, the loss of his two parents and a strong feeling of anguish and loneliness.

"Nothing motivates him anymore, even football motivates him, he doesn't want anything," they summed up to this newspaper.

Like everything in his life, each day is a new story.

The 60th birthday was a fatal cocktail of strong emotions, drugs, and extreme exposure.

Both his daughter Gianinna, who came to greet him at his home in Brandsen, as well as his lawyer Matías Morla and his closest associates recommended that he not go to the stadium.

But Diego insisted.

He was moved by the fans who had come to the gate of the country club to greet him and he wanted to go.

The rest was televised.

The weekend passed by the same lanes and that is why on Monday after observing him down again and without eating, Maximiliano, his main assistant, contacted Morla to update him.

There they activated the hospitalization plan.

Diego argued that his stomach hurt a little.

The lawyer told him that he should be seen by a doctor.

But Maradona, at first, did not want to know anything.

There was a strong exchange.

It was then that Luque intervened and, after a long talk, persuaded him that it was best to go in for a check-up.

A control that, pandemic through, had been postponed.

Maradona finally accepted.

"It was a complicated week for him, with a lot of pressure. We noticed a drop, mainly emotional, which affected his diet. I told Diego to go to the clinic. At first he did not want to but later he accepted. He is a complicated patient, difficult to treat, because he is not as obedient as others. With other patients it is easier, because one gives an indication and usually complies. But if he is here it is because he wanted to come ", Luque said on Monday night after accepting that" Maradona was not how well he should be "and flatly dismiss the rumors that his patient had suffered a stroke.

During the first day of hospitalization, on Monday, they performed a laboratory that confirmed his anemia and forced him to be stabilized with medication.

Tuesday seemed to bring good news.

Moreover, they say that when Maradona woke up in the morning he immediately asked to leave and reiterated it to Dr. Luque when he came to see him.

"I told him to put the bag together because he was leaving," they say.

He watched tennis in the morning, spoke animatedly with those who called him and also with those who visited him.

These good feelings were translated into words by the doctor in the report he gave to the press at noon.

"I'm going to try to get him to stay until tomorrow, that's the idea," Luque said.

And he explained that the main objective was to balance the chemical functioning of the body of a patient who, for example, absorbs little iron since the gastric bypass was performed.

Nobody supposed that a few hours later and after the most exhaustive studies, the panorama would change abruptly and the country would be left in suspense due to the health of one of its greatest idols.

Now we have to wait for recovery.

And that Maradona not only regains his health, but can also smile again.