Chronology: Hugo Chavez's battle for health
Fri Dec 7, 2012 2:05pm EST
(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned from Cuba on Friday after medical treatment in a first public appearance for three weeks that quashed rumors he may have been at death's door.
Following is a chronology of the 58-year-old socialist leader's battle with illness:
30 JUNE 2011
* A pale-looking Chavez addresses the nation by television from Cuba, where he says doctors operated on him to remove a cancerous tumor from his pelvis.
4 JULY 2011
* The president makes a surprise return to Venezuela ahead of the country's Independence Day celebrations.
17 JULY 2011
* Chavez returns to Cuba to begin a course of chemotherapy.
22 SEPTEMBER 2011
* Finishes his fourth and final course of chemotherapy.
20 OCTOBER 2011
* Following tests in Havana, Chavez declares himself free from his cancer, and his doctors say he is completely cured.
2 DECEMBER 2011
* Hosts a regional summit, minus representatives from the United States, in Caracas.
20 DECEMBER 2011
* Attends a Mercosur summit in Uruguay, Chavez's first political trip overseas since his illness was diagnosed.
21 FEBRUARY 2012
* Chavez says he will undergo another operation after a lesion was found in the same area where he had the tumor.
28 FEBRUARY 2012
* The president undergoes surgery in Cuba.
4 MARCH 2012
* Chavez says he will undergo radiation treatment in Cuba.
16 MARCH 2012
* President returns to Venezuela after his latest operation.
25 MARCH 2012
* Chavez returns to Havana to begin his first cycle of radiation therapy.
5 APRIL 2012
* President cries during Roman Catholic Mass, calls on God "not to take him yet" because he has more to do for Venezuela.
14 APRIL 2012
* Chavez returns to Cuba for more radiation treatment, missing the Summit of the Americas in Colombia.
7 OCTOBER 2012
* Chavez wins re-election at presidential poll.
27 NOVEMBER 2012
* The president says he will return to Cuba for treatment including hyperbaric oxygenation, which can be used to treat the side effects of radiation therapy.
7 DECEMBER 2012
* Flies home to Venezuela in the pre-dawn hours, joking "Where's the party?"
(Reporting by Caracas newsroom; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
