Bolsonaro examined by doctors, no decision over TV debate yet

Presidential hopeful Jair Bolsonaro, of the Social Liberal Party (PSL), underwent medical examination on Thursday (Oct. 18), which lasted slightly more than an hour and a half. His advisers reported that the candidate showed good nutritional and clinical evolution, but failed to say whether he would resume his regular campaigning routine.

Bolsonaro is now expected to make a decision on his participation in at least two TV debates with his opponent Fernando Haddad, of the Workers’ Party (PT), as well as trips outside of Rio de Janeiro. The candidate had previously said he was waiting for a medical opinion before he was to make any final plans.

The note adds Bolsonaro went through imaging and lab tests and that the candidate “presents good clinical evolution.”

In another note, the medical staff reported that “the presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro was submitted to a multiprofessional medical evaluation, with imaging and laboratory tests, which were seen to be stable. He shows good clinical evolution, and his nutritional evaluation evinced an improvement in his body composition, but nutritional support and physical therapy are still required. The colostomy bag is still a constraining factor.”

The report was drafted in Bolsonaro’s home by Antônio Luiz Macedo, the surgeon who operated him in São Paulo on September 12, and Leandro Echenique, cardiologist. The doctors who performed the tests did not talk to the press.

The procedure to remove his colostomy bag is expected to be carried out sometime after December 12 and requires a two-week period of recovery. Jair Bolsonaro was stabbed during a rally on September 6 in the city of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais.