Eloise Gonsalves, wife of the Prime Minister, will undergo surgery later this month in the United States.

Speaking on NBC radio on Wednesday, the prime minister said he and Mrs Gonsalves will leave the country on Wednesday, March 17, and it is likely that he will be away for two weeks.

He said last September, he and his wife visited the United States for a check-up and at that time, she had been hoping to do an operation on “her potentially serious problem relating to her spinal condition,” but they have just recently been able to get the appointment date from the surgeon.

Tests will be conducted on March 18 and 19 and the following week, on Monday, March 22, Mrs Gonsalves will undergo surgery.

“God’s willing, keep my fingers cross, that we get the operation done and I have to stay with her a little while for recuperation and make sure she has the requisite support systems,” the prime minister said.

Last September, the prime minister announced that his wife had been diagnosed as having a cyst growing on her spine.

He said then that he had known about his wife’s problem for a few months and had investigated it through consultations in Cuba, Trinidad and with a top neurosurgeon in Boston.