Porter undergoes surgery to stabilize his hearing loss

Suzanne Struglinski

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2004 | 9:39 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., had surgery Monday to help stabilize hearing loss in his right ear, and afterward his spokesman said Porter was doing fine and waiting for doctors to release him.

But whether or not Porter will be able to fly back to Las Vegas in time for his Thursday fund-raiser featuring Vice President Dick Cheney remained uncertain.

"I don't know and I don't think (Porter's doctors) do at this point," spokesman Adam Mayberry said.

Cheney is still scheduled to be in Las Vegas to raise money for Porter this week, according to the White House.

Mayberry said the fund-raiser was "absolutely" still on Porter's schedule.

Porter, 48, has not flown since being treated for a virus in his right ear the first week of December. He had some partial hearing loss associated with it, but doctors at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in a Washington suburb repaired a "fistula," a narrow passage or duct formed by disease or injury, between Porter's inner and middle ear. The surgery took two to three hours, Mayberry said.

Porter's doctors have kept him from flying since the beginning of December. Porter spent the holidays in Washington and canceled a trip to Iraq scheduled for Dec. 19.

He has not been back to Nevada since late November.

Porter and his staff have refused to release specific details about his medical condition and his exact hearing capabilities.

Mayberry said doctors were evaluating Porter's progress after surgery on Monday.