State College Borough Council President Richard McCarl takes the right to vote very seriously.

He even scheduled open-heart bypass surgery for Nov. 5, the day after last week's election, partly because he didn't want a hospital stay to keep him away from the polls.

McCarl, 76, who did not seek re-election to council, was discharged from the Hershey Medical Center on Tuesday and is recovering at home. He said he is eager to return to his duties as council president and finish the remainder of his term, which ends after this year.

"I want to come back as soon as I can," he said. "I'm going to get some rest and do some walking in the next few days. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it to next Monday's meeting, but I'm shooting for it."

McCarl underwent the same surgery in 1990, which involved replacing blocked blood vessels in the heart with veins from his leg. Those veins usually are only efficient in the heart for 10 to 13 years, McCarl said.

About a month ago, he began to notice some symptoms of blockage and underwent a stress test. Although the test didn't show anything, the electrocardiogram (EKG) came back abnormal. He then had an angiogram done at Hershey Medical Center and the doctor discovered blockages.

Because McCarl was taking a baby aspirin each day to reduce the likelihood of a blood clot, the surgery was put on hold for about 10 days until the aspirin could be completely cleared from his system. The doctor didn't want to operate with aspirin in the system because it prolongs bleeding time, which in turn increases the risk of hemorrhaging and delays healing, McCarl said.

"Since there was going to be that long of a delay, I said, 'I'll tell you what doctor, we have the Ohio State game on [Nov. 2] and the election on [Nov. 4],' " McCarl said. "So we agreed [Nov. 5] would be a good day to do it."

Council member Cathy Dauler talked to McCarl on the phone over the weekend and said he sounded in good spirits and anxious to return to council.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he's back next week," Dauler said.

State College Mayor Bill Welch said he hadn't heard much about McCarl's condition.

"No news is usually good news," Welch said.