Evangelist Billy Graham stable after surgery
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Graham in a June 2003 photo
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(CNN) -- Evangelist Billy Graham was in stable condition Thursday recovering from hip surgery he underwent Tuesday night at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, a spokesman for the hospital said.
"We expect him to begin physical therapy later today," said spokesman Erik Kaldor.
Graham, 85, had been in a Jacksonville hotel room to go to his semi-annual checkup at the satellite to the famed Rochester, Minnesota-based hospital when he fell in his room and broke his hip Tuesday morning.
The one-hour surgery took place Tuesday night at St. Luke's Hospital, part of the Mayo Clinic, and involved removing from the socket of the pelvis the fractured head of the femur -- the thigh bone -- replacing it with a metal prosthesis, and then inserting that prosthesis into the pelvic bone.
The procedure is called a hemi-arthroplasty.
Although complications such as blood clots can occur, the hospital has predicted Graham will make a full recovery.
"I don't think he ever saw the doctor" for his checkup, Kaldor said.
A spokeswoman for Graham said doctors do not expect the injury to affect his 2004 ministry schedule -- the next event is a crusade to be held in Kansas City, Missouri, June 17-20, she said.
Graham has said he has preached the gospel to more live audiences than anyone in history, and has taken his message to more than 210 million people in more than 185 countries.
He has served as confidant to every U.S. president since Harry Truman in 1945.
In 2001, Graham was awarded an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his contribution to religious life.
He became a Christian in 1934 at the age of 16 after hearing a traveling preacher at a revival meeting.
Now suffering from Parkinson's disease, Graham spends most of his time at his mountain retreat in North Carolina.
