Clinton hits the links before surgery
Thursday's operation to drain fluid from ex-president's chest
 |  Former President Clinton speaks Wednesday before golfing in a charity tournament in Hobe Sound, Florida. |
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 Clinton's surgery will remove fluid and scar tissue.
 The former president maintains a busy schedule.
 CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at Clinton's surgery.
 Clinton and former President Bush report to the White House on tsunami relief.
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HOBE SOUND, Florida (CNN) -- About to tee off at a golf tournament Wednesday, former President Clinton appeared unconcerned about his surgery the following day to drain fluid from his chest.
"I'm playing, storm or sunshine," Clinton said. "I knew I was going to have this procedure when [former] President Bush and I went to Asia. There's nothing wrong with me except I have fluid buildup between my ribs and my lung, and it affects my breathing."
Clinton and the elder Bush toured tsunami devastation in Asia last month, and they took part in Wednesday's tournament to benefit survivors of the disaster.
Clinton's procedure is needed as a result of the open heart surgery he had last year, his doctors said.
The physicians described the complication as "quite uncommon" but the surgery as relatively low risk.
In September, Clinton, 58, underwent a four-hour quadruple bypass operation after doctors said they found extensive heart disease. Some arteries were more than 90 percent blocked. (Full story)
The senior Bush joined Clinton and pro golfer Greg Norman to hit the links at the Medalist Golf Club. Golfers pledged about $30,000 each to join them. The pricey entry fee was a result of fewer golfers being able to participate, Norman said.
The "Three Friends, One Goal" event has raised $1.8 million so far, the trio said.
Norman said Clinton was determined to play despite his surgical appointment Thursday.
"We talked about his surgery last night, and he's not that bothered about it and to him the priority is ... to raise as much money as they can for tsunami [relief]," Norman said.
Norman said he was honored to play with the former presidents, whom he described as normal people who "put their pants on the same way we do every morning."
Procedure called low risk
Clinton's procedure will be done at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, where he had his open heart surgery last fall.
Known as a decortication, the procedure will require general anesthesia. Its goal is to drain fluid and repair the area to relieve the lung compression.
Asked if it triggered any thoughts on his mortality, Clinton joked, "I hope God's not through with me yet."
But he said he was not worried.
"It's not a dangerous procedure unless something totally unpredictable happens," he said. "They'll drain my lung and take that pill [that holds fluid] out, and my ribs will hurt for two, three weeks, and then I'll go back to my life. It's not useful to sit around and worry about things you have no control over. I want to be able to breathe again fully."
Dr. Craig Smith, who performed Clinton's bypass operation, said Tuesday that the situation was "an extremely unusual result of a common process."
Smith said that in more than 6,000 bypass surgeries he has seen a handful of patients, "less than 10," who developed Clinton's condition.
The former president is expected to remain in the hospital for three to 10 days, said Dr. Joshua Sonett, who is set to perform the surgery.
"This is a relatively low-risk procedure, and we expect full functional recovery in a limited amount of time," Sonett said.
CNN's Rich Phillips contributed to this report.
