The news on 16 January came as a complete surprise to many: rector Jan Danckaert had been rushed into heart surgery. Just a week earlier, he had enthusiastically addressed VUB staff at the university’s New Year event. He had shared his resolution to lose a bit of weight. “I’ve succeeded in that,” he says with a laugh. “In the aftermath of the operation, I’ve lost four kilos.” Recovery has gone well and Jan will resume his duties next Monday. “That’s on the condition I get the green light from the heart surgeon on Friday. The doctors have the final say.”
Recovering from such a major operation takes time, and the rector will have to take it easy for the next few months. “I’m trying to hold off public appearances as much as possible so I can get sufficient rest,” he says. “I also have to go to physical therapy sessions three times a week. Not only for cardio rehabilitation, but also to do muscle-strengthening exercises. I lost some muscle strength. All credit to all the staff at the UZ Brussel, before, during and after the operation. I feel extremely well cared for and supported there, by everyone, from the lady who brings the meals around to the nurses and physiotherapists, to the doctors and surgeons.”
Better than before
Jan will not only be back to his old self – he will be an even better version. “My latest fitness test shows that I’m only at 63% of what someone of my age should be. In a few months, that should be 100%, and that will be a lot better than in the period before my surgery. So I really want to improve.”
He had felt for a while that something wasn’t right. “I tired easily, but thought it was due to my poor condition,” he said. A test at the VUB BLITS exercise lab showed something completely different: there were abnormalities in the electrical signal. When the UZ Brussel received the results, alarm bells went off immediately. A coronarography using contrast fluid revealed problems with the coronary arteries and blood flow to the heart. “That’s a spectacular technique for a physicist like me. I could watch everything ‘live’ on the screen; the constrictions were clearly visible. The heart surgeon immediately decided that I had to stay at UZ for an operation.”
On 16 January, a series of bridging operations were performed to remove multiple constrictions. For the operation, doctors had to saw through the sternum, which caused a lot of discomfort afterwards. “I can only lie on my back, and as a result I’m not sleeping too well. But fortunately that won’t last.”
The rector will be paying close attention to his health from now on: “Keep an eye on cholesterol, eat healthily, moderate alcohol and exercise more. I never smoked, so it wasn’t down to that.”
Work to do
There are already some big challenges ahead. In early March, there is the strategic seminar where management will outline the major policies for the next four years. There has been a lot of talk about the enrolment fees that other universities want to see increased. “It’s true that the government is falling short and not fulfilling its obligations,” says Jan, “but before we think of increasing enrolment fees, we should first remind the government of its responsibility and urge it to actually provide the funds to which higher education is entitled by decree.”
Something else the university needs to prepare for is 2024. “What will happen after the elections? Will there be a major state reform that will affect us, the UZ Brussel and other Dutch-speaking institutions in Brussels? We shouldn’t necessarily be afraid of that, but we need to prepare thoroughly and have an answer ready when they start tinkering with the state structure. And even if there is a chance that the Belgian state structure will not change much, the world is changing rapidly and significantly.”