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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recuperating - trying to text - after spill that broke her elbow

BY Kenneth R. Bazinet /

DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU /

Thursday, June 18, 2009, 8:59 PM

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will need surgery to repair a broken elbow.Dharapak/APSecretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will need surgery to repair a broken elbow.

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Clinton faces surgery and a lengthy recuperation after breaking her right elbow during a tumble Wednesday.

Husband Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea rushed to Washington to tend to the former First Lady at their Embassy Row home. Her public appearances were canceled Thursday.

“She is at home resting comfortably - or uncomfortably,” said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. “She is working from home. She has already taken some calls, and I’m sure learning ... how well you can text with one arm in a sling.”

Orthopedic surgeons say it’s routine for patients who sustain a fracture requiring surgery to be given pain medication.

Hillary Clinton will have an operation, likely involving screws and possibly a plate to realign the bones, within a few days. She is expected to return quickly to work.

“I don’t think it was a severe break, which is why I think, she will have the surgery in the coming days,” Crowley said.

He added it was too early to tell if she’ll be forced to postpone upcoming trips to Italy and Greece.

Doctors told the Daily News Clinton should consider holstering her passport while she recovers.

“She can keyboard in a couple of weeks, comb her hair in a couple of weeks, but she might want to wait a while before any extended travel,” said Dr. John Wilckens, an elbow specialist at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore.

“She certainly can’t carry her own suitcases, though I assume she has staff for that,” he added.

The full extent of the damage to Clinton’s elbow - comprising the humerus, radius and ulna bones - may not be known until she goes under the knife.

Dr. Bradford Parsons, an orthopedic surgeon at Mount Sinai Medical Center, said Clinton’s surgery could last up to four hours. He said she should expect her right arm to be out of commission for at least a month.

“It depends on which bone or how many bones are broken,” Parsons said.

Clinton fell about 5 p.m. in the State Department basement while heading for her car and a White House meeting along with special ambassador for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke.

In pain, she aborted the meeting and returned to her office, where she was examined. Aides a short time later decided to take her to nearby George Washington University Hospital.

Crowley predicted the busted elbow would do little to slow America’s tenacious top diplomat.

“I mean, you all know Hillary Clinton. She’s already probably plotting how to get back to the office as quickly as possible. And we’re just going to assess this on a day-to-day basis.”