Regis in Recovery Mode

Thu., Mar. 15, 2007 8:21 AM PDT by Gina Serpe

Kelly Ripa has yet another reason to be perky: Her right-hand man is on the mend.

According to the fairer Live! cohost, Regis Philbin successfully underwent triple-bypass surgery in New York Wednesday morning, making it through the operation "with flying colors."

Ripa said that Philbin was back to his cantankerous ways, having already been "up, joking around with the nurses" and, in what's possibly the best sign that the 75-year-old emerged from under the knife in good shape, "harassing people."

Ripa made the pronouncement on air Thursday morning. During the chat show, she also enlightened the audience to the fact that Philbin is not only metaphorically, but medically, young at heart—doctors claim the TV vet has "the heart of a 19-year-old."

Lest Reege fans want slightly more vetted information about the medical state of their favorite morning man, Philbin's doctors have also spoken out about their famous patient, saying he should be back in front of the cameras in roughly five weeks.

According to the ever-reliable New York Post, the heart surgery was performed at New York's Weill Cornell Medical Center by Dr. O Wayne Isom, the same doctor who performed quintuple-bypass surgery on David Letterman in January 2000 and whom the late-night talk show host trotted out onair to thank post-procedure.

Philbin announced that he would be going into surgery during Monday's show, after being out on vacation the week prior.

"I had been feeling chest pains, you know, and, uh, shortness of breath and all those little symptoms that you hear about," he said on the show, adding that the medical consensus was "there's some plaque in some arteries and I've got to get it cleaned out."

It's not the first time Philbin's ticker has been tinkered with.

In 1993, he successfully underwent an angiogram to ensure his heart was functioning properly. While he recovered swimmingly, this time around, he has a little more incentive to remain on bed rest.

During Monday's show, Ripa announced that taking the reigns at Live! would be her secondary job. Her first, she said, would be Philbin's personal sponge bath nurse.

On Thursday's show, she reiterated her dedication to the task, issuing a message to her cohost that "nursy-poo is coming with her sponge."

And he thought he had heart problems before.

While Philbin recovers, Ripa is set to run through a roster of amiable cohosts, which kicked off Tuesday with a two-day stint by Anderson Cooper. MTV's Damien Fahey will act as seat-filler through the end of the week, after which an all-star lineup is already taking shape.

Martin Short, the one cohost potentially capable of out-perking Ripa, has agreed to put in some talk time, as have Howie Mandel, Neil Patrick Harris, Pat Sajak, Jeff Probst and Donald Trump.