Larry King Update

Larry King is out of surgery today after having a carotid endarterectomy to remove fat deposits and plaque from the carotid arteries in his neck. These arteries deliver blood and oxygen to the brain so it's a very serious surgery.

When fat and plaque builds up in carotid arteries it can cause strokes and a number of other cardiovascular ailments.

"Larry is doing great and he is excited to be back on the air Monday night with an interview with Senator Barack Obama as we mark the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war," the CNN network said in a statement.

This is not the first time 73 year old King has been under the knife. After having a major heart attack King had quintuple bypass surgery in 1987. After his surgery he quit his smoking habit of three packs a day. King also founded the Larry King Cardiac Foundation to help patients who cannot afford medical care or don't have insurance.

Something unique about King's organization is the amount of involvement he has. King meets or talks with everyone that receives help from his organization. Whether they pay for a surgery or provide medical care, each and every patient is just as important. As of June 2006 the foundation has donated more then $4.5 million for procedures and treatments.

King married his wife Shawn Southwick, 47, a day earlier then was planned so he could fly to New York and have an angioplasty three days later. They ended up tying the knot in a hospital room in Las Angeles with 20 friends and family members.

Larry King (born as Lawrence Harvey Zeiger on November 19, 1933) is a long time American broadcaster. He hosts a show where he interviews prominent people called Larry King Live. This is one of the longest running talk shows on air today. The show is on the CNN network.

Larry Zeiger grew up and went to school in Brooklyn New York. He left for Miami to pursue a job in the radio business at the age of 22. Zieger's first radio job was at WIOD, a station in Miami Beach. He started out by cleaning and doing miscellaneous tasks but eventually replaced an announcer who quit. His very first broadcast was on May 1^st, 1957. He was a disc jockey and worked from 9am to noon. Larry eventually worked his way up the ladder and moved on to bigger and better shows, and eventually television.

Sources:

E Online
Wikipedia