Michel Drucker operated on the heart: "I came close to disaster"

On September 12, it was on a bed at the Georges-Pompidou European Hospital in Paris that Michel Drucker celebrated his 78th birthday, alone.

He has been hospitalized for three months now.

First for infectious endocarditis, then for a triple bypass and the infection of his scar.

So many health problems that took him away from the studio Gabriel and postponed the return of "Vivement dimanche" to the end of February, at best.

Almost out of the woods, he should leave his cardiac rehabilitation center within a week, from where he gave us a long interview.

A survivor, a fighter: these are the words that best describe Michel Drucker today.

How are you ?

MICHEL DRUCKER.

I am a miracle worker, as cardiologists say.

I had a series of heart problems.

But I have the morale.

I'm even doing pretty well for someone who avoided disaster.

I thought I would have serious after-effects after such a heavy operation.

I thought I would end my life in slow motion and never do my job again.

What exactly happened to you?

I was unlucky.

I was first very well treated for hyperthyroidism

But this summer, in Provence, I was very tired, I had a fever every day.

It worried me.

At the end of August, Professor Alain Hagege, head of the cardiology service at the Georges-Pompidou hospital, and Michel Desnos, his predecessor, sent me back to Paris urgently.

In the blood tests, we immediately saw that there was an infectious focus, coming from the mouth following dental treatment.

The bacteria, apparently not too bad, infected the heart and caused sepsis with a germ that had affected the mitral valve but also the spleen and kidney.

For a month, I was put on a drip with a shock antibiotic.

A period that I kept a secret.

And then there was the operation, on September 26 ...

Unfortunately, this bacteria also affected the artery of the right leg, which could have been amputated.

We managed to unclog it, but the valve was still infected.

The surgeon then said to me: “We can't wait any longer.

The day before, I still thought I was invincible.

I had nightmares about it.

I was then examined to see if I was fit.

And there, the surgeons discover that I must also do a triple bypass!

It knocked me out.

I couldn't understand.

I have a healthy lifestyle, I play sports, I do not smoke, do not drink… It is also thanks to this that I am still alive.

Did you see yourself dying at that time?

Paul Achouh, a virtuoso surgeon, operated on me for eight hours, with fifteen hours under anesthesia, plus resuscitation and intensive care.

My heart was stopped for a few hours and plugged into a machine.

There, I realized that I had come close to disaster.

And after that ?

I did not resurface until much later.

Fortunately I did not have a mirror.

I had sunken cheeks, I was a shadow.

Losing 10 kg is a lot when you weigh 72. I had a painful rib cage, with a corset to hold it all together.

We become a puppet again.

Unable to get up on his own, to walk without an infusion.

There are no more TV stars.

I was convinced that I would never resurface.

It is a trip that I will not soon forget.

We discover humility, solitude, silence.

Because with the Covid, I hardly had a visit.

For three months, and this is still the case, I meet only looks, everyone is masked.

I discovered the dedication of hospital staff, sleepless nights, morphine, painkillers.

I realize that the journey will be very long.

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You returned to the hospital ...

My surgeon opened me a second time because of the beginning of an infection and he cleaned everything so that there was no risk.

I now have a breastplate that supports my chest day and night.

You say that you just climbed Mont Ventoux ...

And even Everest!

Seeing where I've been, what could happen to me that is harder?

Those who have lived know what I have been through.

When you do a job like mine, the stop is extremely brutal.

We don't know when we're going to go out and in what condition.

At first, we are a little panicked.

Considering my age, there was also the risk of contracting the Covid.

Despite the sanitary measures, were your relatives able to visit you?

My wife Dany, my daughter, my granddaughter as well as Françoise Coquet and Philippe Alain, my faithful accomplices of "Vivement dimanche", came once, in difficult conditions, at a distance and for a short time.

I did not have the breath to speak.

And then, every ten minutes, I was taken either the temperature or the blood pressure, with blood tests, electrocardiograms, MRI, scanner ...

What was the hardest part?

Pain at night, because you don't want to call a nurse every two minutes.

The slightest fit of coughing is a horror.

The whole rib cage is painful.

I slept a bit thanks to the painkillers, the morphine which gave me hallucinations, I had strange dreams.

The first time I saw myself in a mirror, I found myself terribly aged.

However, the first time I walked with someone holding my arm and started building a little muscle again, it was a big win.

Where are you today?

I am going to tackle the fourth week of rehabilitation at the Bizet clinic in Paris, under the control of Marc Dufour, head of the cardiac rehabilitation service.

I'm learning to walk again.

Intellectually, I find that I haven't lost everything.

The voice returns, the words arrive.

I see the end of the tunnel.

In principle, next week I will be able to go home.

I still have two months of rehabilitation.

"I will come back in Vivement dimanche only if I'm at the top, and even more", warns Michel Drucker, for whom "TV is a drug".

/ Bestimage / Guillaume Gaffiot  

What do your days consist of?

Blood test, blood pressure from 7 am, then the climb of the stairs.

Seven floors.

And in the afternoon, it's cycling health.

I started with five minutes at 20 watts, now I'm thirty minutes at 45 watts, which is 20 km per hour.

There are also medications: antibiotics, iron, anticoagulant, cholesterol, diuretic.

It should not be assumed that the machine works normally once operated.

Everything is complicated.

I had drains.

I was on dialysis because a kidney had suffered.

And I dread the bites, because I have no more luck, if I may say so.

The number of blood tests has been phenomenal.

But the health workers have been incredibly dedicated.

We have the most efficient healthcare system in the world.

It doesn't matter who we are.

You have received many messages of support ...

Yes.

That I discovered three weeks after my operation, once my cell phone was turned on.

The first of my public service bosses, Delphine Ernotte and Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez, who gave me back my confidence.

It's heartwarming to have a future on TV.

There are also other channel managers, such as Nicolas de Tavernost (M 6) or Marc-Olivier Fogiel (BFMTV), including old ones like Nonce Paolini (ex-TF1).

All the animators were very nice, from Sébastien to Delahousse, passing Nikos Aliagas, Bruno Guillon, Jean-Pierre Foucault, Ardisson, Holtz, Sérillon, Elkabbach, Ruquier or Hanouna.

And I forget, may they forgive me!

I even received energy bars from Benjamin Castaldi.

There are also the actors, Jean Dujardin or Muriel Robin.

Or Julien Doré, Vianney.

It was there that I realized that I was a picturesque vestige of this profession.

Some attentions touched you more than others?

Laurent Gerra made me laugh a lot, just like Julio Iglesias, who wanted me to come to Miami for my rehabilitation, or Celine Dion, who told me I was going to get out of it.

And then, Ms. Macron was concerned about my health.

The president also said to me, “Hold on.

Do not give up.

The best is yet to come and we're behind you.

»I received a note from Holland, from Sarko, Martine Aubry, Roselyne Bachelot, Anne Hidalgo… And touching messages from the technicians of the Gabriel studio!

Without forgetting the attention of my brother Jacques, a retired doctor.

Or that of his daughter Léa, who was very close to me, very worried.

Thank you also to my doctor friends Marcel Ichou and Patrick Pelloux.

Do you think about your return to France 2?

I am both very impatient, very anxious to find myself on the set of "Vivement dimanche".

It's going to be a highlight.

I will come back if I'm on top, and even more.

I will start with a big thank you.

But I will resume as if nothing had stopped.

I'll put some humor in it.

I hope to make people forget very quickly that I have come a long way.

I prepare for the home straight.

And also after- "Vivement dimanche", which is twenty-two years old.

For next September, I want to do face-to-face interviews, in-depth interviews.

I would like to be still in the game to live the 2024 Olympics in Paris and one or two presidential campaigns, because politics fascinates me.

Just a month ago, I thought I would never come back.

Whereas, today, I do not set a date.

Is it really necessary to come back to the air?

TV is a drug.

Am I missing?

I feel like I haven't said everything.

I only know how to do that.

At the hospital, I had time to think about it.

When I was discouraged, I was convinced that I could not come back, that I would never get over it, so weak and vulnerable I felt.

I have gone through six months that I will not soon forget.

My wife who wanted me to stop, she now thinks that it's gone for a ride.

It's up to me not to be caught up in the whirlwind of this profession.

My heart is new, but it has suffered.

I know I will get tired.

I'll have to be careful.

White wine and sauerkraut are not for tomorrow.

Now, I only think of one thing: get vaccinated as soon as possible against the flu and Covid, so I will start from scratch with everything new!

Michel Drucker, in his one-man-show "From you to me" ... "There is no question of me stopping the scene," says the host.

/ LP / Delphine Goldsztejn  

And the scene?

There is no question that I will stop.

I will also try to make fun of everything that has just happened to me.

I am going to make fun of the patient that I was, even if it seems that I was not very capricious.

We postponed everything for a year with the pandemic.

But, at the end of March, I will resume a few dates in the Paris region.

I don't feel like I'm on the road yet.

Did you watch TV a lot?

I watched “the Grande Librairie” as well as the football matches, the Tour de France or “Mask Singer”.

At first, it was mostly at night, when I wasn't asleep.

Then, I came across Pascal Praud or Morandini, Bruce Toussaint and Pujadas.

Then, I zapped on Barthès, Anne-Elisabeth Lemoine and Hanouna, whom I met when he was hoping to become the king of the one-man-show.

I also discovered "Unorthodox" and the series devoted to Formula 1 on Netflix, which could make me addicted.

I appreciate Calvi's morning show on RTL and the Europe 1 media show with Philippe Vandel.

What did you learn from this ordeal?

I learned to be patient, to put things into perspective.

Me who worried about not much, who was eternally dissatisfied.

I'm going to stop stressing myself.

Do you still have dreams to fulfill?

To be able to fly planes again.

Part of my life that I am very proud of.

I was even starting to be a pretty credible Sunday pilot.

I am also looking forward to seeing my Alpilles again, pedaling and going to say hello to my father and mother, who are in Provençal soil.

And also my brother Jean, who rests in Paris.

You are the personality who paid the most tribute to the missing celebrities.

What would you like to be remembered about you when the time comes?

That I loved others and that they gave it back to me.

I would join Bedos, Coluche, the Luron, Johnny, Dassin, all these friends to start a new career with them.

And when I arrive at the bar in paradise, I will say to Gainsbourg: where is Whitney

?