THE DOCTORS had promised that President Glafcos Clerides’ polyp removal surgery would be a "routine" operation.
In medical terms, the 8am operation may have been just that, but outside the Evangelistria clinic where it took place, the normal routine had been replaced by a frenzied media circus.
Television crews, newspaper and radio reporters set up camp outside the private clinic from early in the morning, mobbing anyone coming in or out in search of some snippet of information about what was going on inside.
Television and radio channels regularly interrupted their programming to bring their audiences live coverage of what was happening outside the Evangelistria.
The first to break the good news about the operation was Health Minister Frixos Savvides, who appeared on the steps of the private clinic at about 11.30 am.
"Everything has gone very well, the surgeons have not quite finished yet, but there were no problems," Savvides told the eager press pack.
Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides – whose wife Emi was one of the anaesthetists for the operation – was next to appear, reaffirming that everything had been "as smooth as it could have been."
The official medical bulletin was read out by Dr Iosif Kasios, one of Clerides’ three personal physicians, about an hour later.
"The operation went smoothly without any particular problems," Kasios stated. "The President came round normally and was transferred to the intensive care unit. His condition is stable and satisfactory," he added.
Four surgeons – George Kyriakides, Vassos Makris, Andreas Constantinides and Michalis Theophanous – carried out the four-hour operation, while the president’s personal physicians, Akis Syrimis, Kasios and George Pavlides were also present. The numbers were swollen by two anaesthetists and the Under-Secretary to the President, Pantelis Kouros, who donned a surgeon’s gown and mask to watch proceedings.
Evangelistria director, Andreas Constantinides, said the President had been in good spirits as he was wheeled into surgery. Noticing the large number of medics present, Clerides apparently quipped: "If there’s too many people in the surgery then don’t worry, I’ll leave and make some space!"
