Interior Min. back at work after heart surgery

Minister Ronald Plasterk of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations is back at work from today after two months recovering from a successful open heart surgery. The 59-year-old Minister temporarily stepped out of office in June after a visit to the doctor due to tightness in the chest and trouble breathing, NOS reports. A referral to a cardiologist revealed that one of his heart valves was not working and he needed surgery. The heart valve was repaired and he can now get back to work. "Through the entire process I felt that I had to avoid two things", Plasterk said to broadcaster NOS. "You should not pretend that it's nothing, it really is something big. On the other hand you should not revel in the disease. Now the disease is over and you must stop dwelling on it." According to Plasterk, he was prepared for the surgery and its aftermath by various specialists. "There are people for whom something like this is really a life event over which they ever since continue to think in terms of 'before' and 'after'. Others experience it as an episode. For them it's over. You get prepared for it. Like: you could get crying fits. It could be that you, also because of the anesthetic, could fall into a delirium (a state of confusion and anxiety). That did not happen. And now after so many months, the chance is not great." Plasterk still visits a rehabilitation center twice a week to have his heart checked. He decided not to candidate himself for PvdA parliamentarian in the upcoming elections and considers it unlikely that he will be a Minister again. "In the coming months I'll consider what I'm going to do next."