Inouye returns to
work after shoulder
surgery
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye returned to work yesterday, a week after undergoing partial shoulder replacement surgery.
Inouye was on the Senate floor to cast a "no" vote on a request to halt discussion on an amendment to the Bush administration's $87 billion Iraq aid measure. The request to stop the discussion passed 57 to 39.
Inouye spokesman Mike Yuen said the 79-year-old Hawaii Democrat came to the office yesterday and conducted a meeting, telling staff members that his doctors said he was "way ahead of schedule in terms of recuperation."
"He looks good and he is in very good spirits," Yuen said.
Yuen said that although Inouye's only arm is in a sling, the senator was able to conduct business and planned to continue daily visits to his Capitol Hill office.
Doctors at Walter Reed Army Hospital had told Inouye that he should expect a hospital stay of one to two weeks for inpatient rehabilitation.
Inouye lost his right arm during combat in War World II.
