Doctor: O'Bannon Shows Small, Significant Improvements

CHICAGO -- A doctor treating Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon said Wednesday the governor has emerged from a drug-induced coma and has shown "small, but significant improvements" after surgery for an apparent stroke earlier this week.

Video

Governor No Longer In Induced Coma Slideshow: O'Bannon Hospitalized O'Bannon's Biography O'Bannon's Hometown Reacts Kernan Designated Acting Governor Wednesday Statement From Judy O'Bannon Quotes On O'Bannon's Illness Governor's Web Site Offer Best Wishes To Governor, Family Sign Up: News E-Mails

Dr. Wesley Yapor said O'Bannon, 73, is still under sedation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, but the governor was no longer in an induced coma.

O'Bannon still was in critical condition Wednesday, Yapor said. O'Bannon still was on a ventilator, but was breathing beyond the rate of the machine, meaning he didn't necessarily need it, Yapor said.

"We are becoming quite a bit more comfortable as far as survivability ... (but) as far as neurological function, that's going to take a long time to improve," Yapor said. "The next week to two weeks are going to be very important in terms of determining how he's going to continue to do from a neurological standpoint."

Yapor said O'Bannon's improvements included better breathing, improved vital signs compared to the first day of his hospitalization, and his response to some stimulation.

"This morning he actually did respond to me -- not purposely, he didn't follow commands," Yapor said. "He is hard of hearing, so I kind of yelled in his ear, and he did react to that.

"I asked him to wiggle his toes and actually he withdrew his legs. Whether that was a startled reaction or following commands, I'm not sure."

O'Bannon was found unconscious Monday morning in his room at the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago, where he was planning to speak at a meeting of the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association, officials said.

The governor was unconscious and unresponsive when he was found -- though he was breathing on his own at the hotel -- and he was taken to Northwestern Memorial, where surgery was performed to remove blood from his brain.

POST YOUR THOUGHTS Forum: Offer Best Wishes To Governor, Family

"What we do know is that the findings suggest that he had a stroke," Yapor said Wednesday. "Some of the studies that he had when he first came in ... showed that there was no flow for a period of time to parts of half of the brain."

Yapor said the most important improvement O'Bannon has made are the way his upper and lower extremities have reacted to pain, and his pupil-area reaction.

Doctors are still cautious about his chances for a full recovery.

"We have both seen seen a range responses to surgery in these types of circumstances, and I can say we're both pleased with his improvement, but I can't say we're surprised by it," Yapor said.

In a letter to Indiana's legislative leaders Wednesday, Yapor wrote that O'Bannon was unable to carry out his duties as governor. That letter prompted state leaders to initiate a constitutional process allowing the Indiana Supreme Court to designate Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan as acting governor.

Indications Of Brain Damage Seen In O'Bannon

Doctors said Tuesday that some signs of brain damage had been seen in O'Bannon after he underwent emergency surgery for a cerebral hemorrhage, but that the extent of the damage wasn't immediately known.

Yapor said two computerized tomography scans showed the surgery successfully removed blood from O'Bannon's brain, and that the surgery saved his life.