PORT ANGELES — Longtime councilman and former mayor Gary Braun has missed the last two City Council meetings and may miss a third in May.
But under the circumstances, he probably will be excused by his colleagues.
Braun is recovering from kidney removal surgery performed April 11 at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle.
“I might miss one more meeting, it depends on how I feel,” Braun said Wednesday from his home where he continues recuperating.
Braun, 69, is a retired firefighter who now works for the U.S. Customs Service. He had surgery to remove his left kidney which had two tumors that were later found to be benign.
“Many thanks to Dr. Robert Scott, my primary physician in Port Angeles,” Braun said.
“He sent me for an ultrasound and CT scan.”
Dr. Rex Averill felt because it was less invasive, Braun should undergo “laparoscopic nephrectomy,” or kidney removal, using a tiny camera and small surgical instruments inserted through small abdominal incisions.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Paul Kozlowski, who is the director of the minimal invasive surgery section of the urology and renal transplantation department at Virginia Mason in Seattle.
