Ely Buendia recovering after heart operation

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The health of rock artist Ely Buendia is improving after undergoing an angioplasty to clear his blocked arteries, the Pupil band manager told GMANews.TV Tuesday."He's fine, still in ICU but recovering well," Day Cabuhat said, dispelling rumors circulating in text messages and electronic mails that the former leader of Eraserheads had passed away after suffering a heart attack Saturday night.As of posting time, Cabuhat said Buendia is still at the Intensive Care Unit of the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.Cabuhat said the rumors were the least of their worries at the moment.In a message to the mailing list of Pupil, she said Buendia suffered acute myocardial infarction secondary to arterial blockage."The emergency angioplasty was successful and he is now stable and recovering," she said.She added that Buendia would have to undergo a second angiosplasty "to pave the way for complete recovery." In an interview with GMA's Saksi Monday night, Buendia's wife Diane said an angiogram performed on the singer-guitarist confirmed the heart attack as two of his arteries were blocked.In a separate interview at Unang Hirit Tuesday morning, she said her husband was already talking and joking with his visitors.Buendia’s friend, rapper Francis Magalona, said in his blog posted on his Multiply account that he had already spoken with Buendia Sunday evening and Monday morning."I'm glad my friend is recovering. The guy had an angioplasty, it's a process where they insert a ‘balloon’ in your artery to open it so blood (and oxygen) may pass, and reach the brain. I was on my way to my first Camera Club of the Philippines monthly meeting-dinner when I received a text from my daughter, Saab, that Ely was on TV, and he was rushed to the hospital," Magalona said.He added: "I immediately dialed my friend's number, and after a dozen or so rings, he answered the phone, told me the story of how he suffered and survived a heart attack and is now at a hospital in Alabang, the Asian Hospital."Diane earlier said Buendia had already complained about finding it a bit hard to breathe while they were on the way to a gig in Laguna. But he dismissed it as mere heartburn. The singer-guitarist was reportedly in the middle of a song when he felt a sudden pain in his chest and his left arm went numb.Buendia, who turned 36 last November 2, became popular as composer and lead singer of the Eraserheads back in the 1990s.Shortly before the Eraserheads disbanded, Buendia recorded a 10-song solo album, Wanted: Bedspacer.Then he formed the short-lived band The Mongols, before forming Pupil, which broke into the music scene with the hit songs "Nasaan Ka," "Dianetic," and "Dulo ng Dila." They have just released their fourth single "Gamu-gamo." - GMANews.TV