BERLIN (AP) — Ukraine’s former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, has started medical treatment at Berlin’s Charite hospital after arriving late Friday, but doctors treating her say it’s too soon to say how long this will take.

Hospital chairman Karl Max Einhaeupl says doctors will decide by Monday whether the 53-year-old needs an operation for her severe back pain resulting from slipped discs she suffered more than two years ago.

If she does have an operation the recovery period would typically last about four days followed by further rehabilitation

Einhaeupl told reporters on Saturday that Tymoshenko isn’t suffering any paralysis though she requires a mobility aid to walk around because she cannot put any strain on her right leg.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/08/yulia-tymoshenko-medical-_n_4925585.html