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Mizerak Still Hospitalized After Surgery on Jan. 20th
Feb 21, 2006, 4:29 PM

Billiard legend Steve Mizerak is still recuperating in intensive care after an operation in late January to remove his gall bladder.

The 61-year-old Hall of Famer has been hospitalized since Jan. 20, according to his wife, Karen. He is under almost constant sedation, while being treated for fluid in his lungs and a blood infection.

"The doctors say that he’s not getting better, but he’s not regressing either," Karen Mizerak told BD on Feb. 21. "He’s putting up a good fight."

He was first hospitalized in December for congestive heart failure, which caused his body to retain too much fluid. He was released on Dec. 24, but returned to the hospital on Jan. 20 when he suffered an attack related to his gall bladder.

His gall bladder was removed several days later, but his health woes intensified in a sort of "domino effect," Karen reported. The end result is that Mizerak has stayed in intensive care, now breathing with help of a ventilator and being fed intravenously.

"It’s a very complicated thing," Karen said. "He’s a very sick man."

Doctors hope to be able to eventually wean him from the sedation treatment and stabilize his condition, she said.

Mizerak has a history of health problems, including a stroke suffered in 2001.

A resident of Singer Island, Fla., Mizerak is receiving treatment at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.