POLITICS ’88 : Dukakis Interrupts California Campaign to Fly to Boston for Wife’s Neck Surgery

SAN FRANCISCO —  Democratic presidential front-runner Michael S. Dukakis cut short campaigning in California on Thursday to hurriedly fly home to Boston, where his wife, Kitty, was hospitalized for “urgent” surgery on her neck.

Doctors were to operate on Mrs. Dukakis, 51, early this morning at Massachusetts General Hospital to remove two deteriorating spinal discs. A spokesman said the condition, commonly known as “slipped discs,” could result in paralysis if not repaired.

At a news conference early Thursday, Dukakis said he regretted canceling a series of scheduled campaign events, including a rally in East Los Angeles and a final debate with rival Jesse Jackson in Torrance. But Dukakis said his wife’s condition clearly came first.

“Obviously I wanted to go back there,” Dukakis told reporters in a worried voice, after he had met with environmental activists at the fog-shrouded Golden Gate National Recreation Area. “This is obviously the most important thing.”

Mrs. Dukakis wore a neck brace when she checked into the hospital for tests Wednesday night after a campaign trip to California and New Mexico, and a three-day vacation with a friend in Arizona. Aides said she has complained of pain and numbness in her hands, legs and thighs in recent weeks.

But doctors decided to operate quickly after finding that Mrs. Dukakis’ condition was “potentially quite serious” and had “worsened fairly rapidly over the past two or three days,” according to Dr. James R. Lehrich, a neurologist who briefed reporters in Boston Thursday afternoon. He said the surgery is “not emergency, but urgent.”

‘Don’t Want to Take Chance’

“Waiting even until next week was taking a chance, and we don’t want to take a chance,” he said.

Dukakis, who arrived here from Boston late Wednesday, called his wife Thursday morning in her hospital room. “She feels good,” he said. “She’s obviously a little apprehensive, as you can imagine.”

Thursday night after visiting his wife in her hospital room, Dukakis said: “She’s in good spirits, looks good. We hope and expect everything will go well.” He said he would stay at the hospital with her.

The Dukakises will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary on June 20. The Massachusetts governor had breakfast with his daughters Andrea and Kara in his hotel suite here Thursday before flying home. The Dukakis’ son, John, 29, is political director of the California campaign.

Before leaving, Dukakis said he hopes to return to California this weekend to resume campaigning for the June 7 primary. Mrs. Dukakis is expected to remain in the hospital for two weeks, aides said, and then will go home to Brookline to recuperate further.

“We expect her to be up and around and ready for the convention,” said Marilyn Anderson-Chase, Mrs. Dukakis’ spokeswoman. Dukakis is expected to win his party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention July 18-21 in Atlanta.

Anderson-Chase said Mrs. Dukakis first complained to her doctor in Boston several weeks ago about a “tingling sensation” in her left hand, and was cautioned that she was suffering from stress. After the discomfort spread to her arms and legs, she met with neurologist Dr. Edward H. Davis in Los Angeles early Saturday morning, and underwent diagnostic tests at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center later that night.

Dr. Lehrich said Mrs. Dukakis’ doctors thought it “quite unlikely” that the rugged campaign schedule over the last 15 months caused her condition, and found no sign that an injury might have triggered it. He added, however, that Mrs. Dukakis’ 30 years as a student and teacher of modern dance might have contributed to her problem.

Jackson told reporters at a Watts housing project that he called Dukakis on Wednesday after hearing of the hospitalization. Jackson said he is “available to debate any time,” but said the “excuse is certainly an acceptable one.” Jackson later spoke to a crowd of several hundred at El Camino College, where the debate was to be held, and told them he offered his “prayers and the prayers of my family for the safe surgery and speedy recovery of Mrs. Dukakis.”

Bob Drogin reported from San Francisco and David Lauter from Boston.