Post-surgery, Pollard's wife to visit him in prison
Prison staff tries to intervene after Jonathan not given appropriate pain medication; doctor says another operation may be necessary.
By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMANjonathan pollard_311 reuters(photo credit: Ho New / Reuters)
Imprisoned Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard was expected to see his wife Esther at his North Carolina prison Thursday night for the first time since he underwent urgent surgery for problems with his kidneys, gall bladder, and high blood pressure.When Pollard was taken out of prison for the surgery on Tuesday, his wife was not told where the procedure was being performed for “security reasons.”RELATED:Esther Pollard: Jonathan 'conscious, aware' after surgery'US Congressman asks to speak to House about Pollard'Pollard to Oren: Tell Obama to act before it's too lateShe received permission to see her husband Thursday and spoke to him on the phone earlier in the day.
Esther Pollard said she was worried her visit with her husband could be cut short because he had yet to receive adequate pain medication.Despite written instructions from the doctor who operated on Pollard, he was not given pain medication when he returned to prison. The pain was so bad that prison staff intervened with the medical staff to obtain medication.The medication he was given produced a bad reaction and had to be stopped. Jonathan Pollard told his wife via phone that he will do his best to cope with the pain without appropriate medication.Pollard’s doctor told him the surgery was successful, but an additional operation may be necessary. Esther Pollard said her husband sounded weak over the phone, but she told him that supporters have been calling constantly.“I felt that telling him about all the support encouraged him,” Esther Pollard said.“Although the operation’s success is a sigh of relief, Jonathan’s condition after 26 years has gotten worse and it is not stable. He must come home and receive the treatment that he needs.”
