Sakai is back home after knee surgery following fall
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai is resting at home after undergoing a successful outpatient knee surgery and plans to ease back into full-time duties as the county’s top-elected leader.
“He was home last night, resting in his own bed. He hopes to get back into the swing of things just as soon as he can,” said Jim Lefko, Sakai’s communications director.
Sakai, who injured his ankle and knee in a Feb. 28 fall, will probably not be in the courthouse for a least “the next couple of days,” Lefko said. How soon he returns to regular, inperson duties will be up to him and his doctors.
“I think he’s just going to have to play it by ear and see what he feels like as the days and weeks progress,” Lefko said.
Sakai departed from the Double Height Courtroom during Tuesday’s Bexar County Commissioners Court meeting, leaving Commissioner Tommy Calvert, the senior member of Commissioners Court, to preside over discussion and voting.
The county judge expects his recovery, four to six weeks, to have little impact on his work as county judge.
He hopes by then to have full mobility.
Before he departed, Sakai signed an order authorizing Calvert to sign 18 different types of resolutions and orders that allow routine county business to continue.
Sakai is communicating with his staff electronically and participating in some meetings remotely from home, Lefko said.
Commissioner Grant Moody “stepped up” by filling in for the judge at a San Antonio Manufacturers Association function today.
His wife Rachel and staff members represented the county at the unveiling of a statue of former County Judge Nelson Wolff and his wife Tracy by San Pedro Creek today.
Sakai, 68, underwent “minimally invasive” laparoscopic surgery Tuesday to repair a torn meniscus, a common injury affecting the knee, in his left leg. The meniscus is a piece of cartilage that functions like a shock absorber between the shinbone and thighbone.
The judge injured his leg and fractured his left ankle during a visit to the State Capitol while meeting with legislators.
“When he got home that night, I don’t know if the adrenaline wore off, but that’s when he realized it was hurting him,” Lefko said.
The judge realized his knee was hurting, and he had the torn meniscus diagnosed a few days ago.
In a release, Sakai’s office said the judge would “continue to meet with stakeholders and tend to the responsibilities of the office in-person and remotely as needed.”
“My team and I will be actively coordinating to ensure that the needs of our Bexar County residents and stakeholders are met with the same urgency, focus, and professionalism as usual,” Sakai said.
“I look forward to a swift recovery.”
Lefko the judge may soon return to the courthouse using a scooter or other mobility aid. When the Commissioner Court holds its next regular meeting March 21, Sakai may preside in person or participate remotely, depending on his medical progress.
“We’re just going to take our cues from him,” Lefko said.
After an opening prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, Sakai was taken out of the courtroom in a wheelchair — a metal ramp was installed by the dais where the judge and commissioners were seated Tuesday.
Calvert took office in 2015, representing the county’s eastern sector. He said Sakai “was hard at work trying to alleviate overcrowding at our jail when he had his fall.”
“I know he will return as soon as he can,” Calvert said in a release, asking for prayers for the judge’s “speedy recovery.”