Reid headed back to hospital for follow-up surgery
WASHINGTON — Senator Harry Reid will return to the hospital Wednesday morning for further surgery on his right eye that was damaged in a New Year’s Day exercise accident at his home in Henderson, according to a spokeswoman.
The surgery for Reid, the Senate minority leader from Nevada, will take place at George Washington University Hospital, said aide Kristen Orthman.
“This is a necessary step to assist in recovering full vision in his right eye,” Orthman said.
Orthman said Reid will remain at his home in Washington, D.C. the remainder of the week, and is expected to return to the U.S. Capitol next week.
Reid underwent initial surgery on Jan. 26 at George Washington University Hospital, a short distance from his condominium home in the West End neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
In a three-and-a-half-hour procedure, doctors removed a blood clot from Reid’s eye, drained additional blood from the front of it and repaired the orbital bones surrounding the eye.
Reid, 75, was exercising at his home in Henderson when a heavy exercise resistance band he was using for strength training snapped into his face and knocked him into cabinetry.
Reid lost vision in the right eye, which has remained bandaged. He has said doctors are optimistic that he would recover vision, but it was “not anything that is a slam dunk.”
Besides breaking bones surrounding the eye, Reid broke four ribs and suffered a concussion from the accident.
Reid, who is up for re-election in 2016, remained at his Washington home for the first month of the congressional session, carrying out duties over the phone and through aides and Senate colleagues.
He appeared at the Capitol on several occasions prior to his initial surgery. He returned Feb. 2, following the procedure.
Reid was in the Capitol on Monday, delivering a speech criticizing Republican handling of a Department of Homeland Security funding bill. In the only vote of he day, he voted to confirm Michael Botticelli to be Director of National Drug Control Policy.
Orthman said Reid “is not expected to miss any more time in the office” beyond the recovery from the followup surgery.
Contact Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Find him on Twitter: @STetreaultDC.
