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Former Gov. Ben Cayetano, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, was scheduled to have two stents implanted to clear an arterial blockage this week — a procedure that Cayetano said he should have had done 10 years ago.
Vicky Cayetano, his wife and former Democratic Party candidate for governor, took Cayetano, 82, to Straub Medical Center the day after the Aug. 13 primary election, causing the Cayetanos to miss the party’s post-primary Unity Breakfast at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.
Cayetano has COPD and did not experience a heart attack, said Vicky Cayetano spokesperson Lynne Waters.
Once Ben Cayetano was stabilized and given his options, Waters said the former governor was discharged from Straub to go home to decide how to proceed.
On Sunday, Cayetano wrote on his Facebook page: “Tomorrow morning I’ll be undergoing what I should have done ten years ago. My heart doctor at Straub will be implanting two stents to open the 95% blockage in my major artery. I have blockage in three places, tomorrow will focus on fixing the two major ones. Andrew Baldwin, Straub’s chief heart surgeon, made my decision for me when he told me “If you were my father I would not recommend bypass surgery.” That’s how out of shape I am. See you all in a couple days. Much Aloha.”
