No complications as Jimmy Carter recovers from op for brain bleed

Former US president Jimmy Carter is recovering after surgery to relieve pressure from brain bleeding linked to recent falls.

A spokeswoman said there were no complications from the procedure, performed at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, for a subdural haematoma, or blood on the brain surface.

Mr Carter, 95, will remain in hospital for observation, said Deanna Congileo, his spokeswoman at the Carter Centre.

The statement said the Carters thank everyone for the many well-wishes they have received, and Ms Congileo does not anticipate making more announcements until he is released.

It was unclear how long he might be in hospital, said his pastor, the Rev Tony Lowden.

“If anybody can make it through this, Jimmy Carter can. His will to serve is greater than his will to give up,” said Mr Lowden.

The Carter Centre said the bleeding was related to Mr Carter’s recent falls. He used a walking frame during his most recent public appearance.

The first fall, in the spring, required hip replacement surgery. He hit his head falling again on October 6 and received 14 stitches, but still travelled to Nashville, Tennessee, to help build a Habitat for Humanity home shortly thereafter.

Mr Carter’s wife of 73 years, Rosalynn Carter, is with him at the hospital, Mr Lowden said. “She won’t leave his side,” he added.

The former president has been through a series of health problems in recent years.

He received a dire cancer diagnosis in 2015, announcing that melanoma had spread. After partial removal of his liver, treatment for brain lesions, radiation and immunotherapy, he said he was cancer-free.

Despite increasingly frail health, the nation’s oldest-ever ex-president still teaches Sunday school about twice monthly at Maranatha Baptist Church in his home town of Plains, Georgia.

Mr Carter candidly discussed his own mortality on November 3, during his most recent appearance at their church. Referring to his cancer diagnosis, he said he assumed he would die quickly after finding out the extent of his illness.

“Obviously I prayed about it. I didn’t ask God to let me live, but I just asked God to give me a proper attitude toward death. And I found that I was absolutely and completely at ease with death,” he said.

Since then, Mr Carter said he has been “absolutely confident” in the Christian idea of life after death, and has not worried about his own death.