[IMRA: Cabinet Secretary Yisrael Maimon rejected calls yesterday on Israel
Radio for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's medical records to be released.]

Sharon Leaves Hospital as Medical Staff Speak Out
By Ezra HaLevi A7News Tuesday, December 20, 2005
[ for the original Hebrew Maariv article cited:
www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/022/834.html ]

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was released from Hadassah Hospital Tuesday amid
reports by his medical team that Monday's press conference did not disclose
"the whole truth" about his stroke.

"I see you missed me," Sharon told reporters, "I was excited to see the
great concern Israel's citizens had for my health, and I thank them with all
my heart. Now we must return to work and move forward."

Asked if his stroke would interfere with his ability to serve as prime
minister, Sharon said, "I don't think that it will have an effect on my
functioning."

Sharon was ordered by his doctors to stay at his residence in Jerusalem in
the coming days in case he needs to be hospitalized again.

The senior doctors of Hadassah Hospital held a press conference Monday and
outlined Sharon's condition for the press. Head of Neurology at Hadassah
Prof. Tamir Ben-Hur stressed that Sharon never lost consciousness, was not
confused at any point and did not suffer any paralysis due to the stroke.
Dr. Ben-Hur said Sharon's only problem was slight difficulty in speaking.

The medical team that treated the prime minister when he was first brought
to the hospital, however, told the Maariv newspaper that Sharon had been
quite confused for most of an hour.

"What was said at the press conference was, to understate, not exact," they
said. "The prime minister did not know what day it was, what time is was or
where he was. For 45 minutes he could not count or perform basic movements.
They [the hospital officials -ed.] are not obligated to disclose everything,
but to give inaccurate information is already taking a position [on the
matter of the PM's health] and is very problematic. Throughout the first
night of his hospitalization the confusion continued, to a lesser extent,
and Sharon has not returned to himself completely."

Sharon's doctors have ordered him to lose weight. Yediot Aharonot reported
that one doctor suggested Sharon take up meditation and Tai Chi as an
alternative to weight reduction.

Prime Minister Sharon is to turn 78 in February and is known for having a
hearty appetite. A former aide told Army Radio, "The man loves food. It will
be hard changing him at his age, but we will do our best."