First Lady to undergo surgery today

JAKARTA. First Lady Ani Yudhoyono is scheduled to have neck surgery at the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the US, at 7:30 a.m. local time (6:30 p.m. Jakarta time).

“On Thursday local time, the First Lady completed a thorough medical check-up at the hospital. The results were good and the team of doctors declared that she was ready to undergo surgery,” presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha told reporters on Friday at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta.

“We hope for prayers from Indonesian citizens so the process could go well.”

Julian was among President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s delegation leaving for America on Friday.

The delegation will make a stopover in Pittsburgh to pick up the First Lady before heading to Los Cabos, Mexico, to attend the G-20 summit and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to attend the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as the Rio+20 Earth Summit.

Ani is expected to accompany her husband during the global forums despite the surgery.

Julian only described Ani’s medical issue as “troubles in the nerves in her neck”.

Accompanied by her youngest son and Democratic Party secretary-general Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono and chief presidential physician Brig. Gen. Dr. Aris Wibudi, Ani left for Pittsburgh on Tuesday on a commercial flight.( Bagus BT Saragih/ The Jakarta Post)