Former prime minister Jean Chretien is in hospital recovering from successful brain surgery.
Chrétien doing well after brain surgery ..
Former prime minister Jean Chrétien was in a Montreal hospital Saturday recovering from successful brain surgery.
The Jewish General Hospital said Chrétien underwent surgery Friday to treat a subdural hematoma. That's a buildup of blood between the skull and the brain. It's normally considered an emergency medical condition.
"Currently, he is doing extremely well," said Dr. Jeff Golan, who performed the operation.
Doctors said they didn't know what might have caused the hematoma but noted that Chrétien had hit his head on the staircase of his basement in late June.
The surgery Chrétien underwent is considered a major operation. The procedure involves opening the skull to a sufficient degree to allow access to the subdural cavity that's between the skull and the brain. The blood buildup is then drained.
"This morning he was being shaved by the orderly and he said: 'If he doesn't do a good job I'm gonna give him the Shawinigan handshake,"' said the hospital's executive director Hartley Stern, miming a choke-hold grip Chrétien once used on a protester.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said he was "greatly concerned" by news of the surgery.
