Anthony Pangilinan with his family. Image: Instagram/@anthonyapangilinan
Maricel Laxa disclosed that her husband Anthony Pangilinan is currently recovering from a heart surgery, which he had to undergo due to a heart valve issue involving a “torrentially severe leak.”
The actress spoke about Anthony’s health during her interview on “Fast Talk with Boy Abunda” on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
“He’s doing much better. He’s back to work. Nagta-trabaho na, nagwo-walking. That’s the only way he will heal,” she said.
“He had heart surgery and we were in the hospital for three weeks. [Now], he has been recovering. It has been two weeks out of the hospital,” she added.
Laxa noted that they did not immediately make Anthony’s condition public because they wanted a private time for their family to “heal properly.”
“Kasi ‘pag dumadaan sa ganitong challenge sa buhay, kailangan ng suporta ng bawat isa (Challenges like this require support from every family member). So, we went through it quietly and it’s the most beautiful thing to go through together,” she told show host Abunda.
Speaking about their family’s gratitude after the hurdle, Laxa added, “[Every day] is a day to be thankful for. The good, the bad, the ugly—everything is a gift.”
Anthony, for his part, detailed his recent health journey through a video shared via his Instagram page.
“I had a heart valve issue that had a torrentially severe leak. And if not for the strong heart which I think I got from running, I should have already shown more serious heartfelt symptoms,” he said.
The surgery, according to Anthony, was supposed to be a three- to five-hour procedure, but it extended to 12 hours due to “difficulty in inserting the right tube to [his] lungs.”
“It will be a long slow road to recovery,” he stated. “One doctor said that what I went through was like being beaten up by 10 guys and rammed by 10 trucks. ‘To hell and back,’ I describe it.”
Laxa and Anthony’s children have hoped for the latter’s speedy recovery, with actor Donny Pangilinan saying, “Been a tough past few months but we’ll get back stronger than ever.”