Mayor Sandra Harwood is recovering well and making progress every day after undergoing surgery last week, according to family.
Surgery at the UNBC Hospital was successful at repairing an aneurysm which had developed in her aorta.
An aneurysm is a widening or ballooning of part of an artery caused by a weakness in the vessel wall.
The weakening of the vessel wall can eventually lead to a rupture of the vessel wall, which can be dangerous and even deadly, which is why surgery is usually recommended.
The doctors also discovered a blocked artery in her intestine which complicated things slightly, as they also had to take this into consideration while operating on the aneurysm.
After the surgery, she had 52 staples holding the incision closed, but 27 were already taken out before she was released from the hospital to come back home.
While Mayor Harwood has been taking time out for the operation, Councillor Brenda Gouglas has been acting mayor for the District of Fort St. James.
Mayor Harwood was estimating she would be recovering for six to eight weeks after the surgery, but she hopes to be back much sooner.
“I am determined to get back as soon as I can,” said Mayor Harwood.
“I’ve got to get back in the saddle.”
She said she would like to make the regional district meeting on November 10.
While this will delay her campaigning for her re-election as mayor, she has had her son develop a website to kick off her campaign at: http://mayorsandy.com/.