Jakarta (The Jakarta Post/ANN) ¿ Indonesia's First Lady Ani Yudhoyono left the country for the US city of Pittsburgh on Tuesday evening to get medical treatment for her illness, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said.
¿My wife and I have always had regular medical check-ups in Indonesia, in Indonesian hospitals and by Indonesian doctors. However, in this particular case, the presidential doctors have recommended the First Lady get treatment in a hospital in Pittsburgh that has specialists to deal with the health problems that my wife is suffering from,¿ Yudhoyono said in an impromptu press briefing at the State Palace on Tuesday.
Yudhoyono declined to give details about his wife¿s illness beyond saying that Ani had ¿troubles in her nerves and neck¿.
Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha also refused to disclose more details.
Julian only confirmed that the First Lady would undergo surgery on June 15 at Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Accompanying Ani on her trip to the US are her youngest son and Democratic Party secretary-general, Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, and chief presidential physician Brig. Gen. Dr. Aris Wibudi.
Also on Tuesday, President Yudhoyono and his delegation, are expected to leave the country for a 10-day foreign tour including stopovers in Los Cabos, Mexico for the G-20 summit and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as the Rio+20 Earth Summit.
The entourage will also make a stopover in Pittsburgh to pick up Ani, who will join Yudhoyono for the remainder of his trip.
Yudhoyono is also expected to make a state visit to Ecuador for bilateral talks before heading home.
In March, the First Lady had an operation to remove her gallbladder at Gatot Subroto Army Central Hospital (RSPAD) in Jakarta. Only few days later, she joined the presidential delegation visiting China, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
In late December, Ani was hospitalized for typhoid and spent five days at RSPAD, celebrating New Year¿s Eve from a hospital bed.
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