(Bloomberg) -- Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva left a hospital in Brasilia after an operation on his hip and a procedure to remove excess skin from his eyelids, the government said Sunday.

The 77-year-old president underwent the medical procedures on Friday and spent the weekend recovering in the hospital. The operations — a joint replacement and an eyelid procedure known as blepharoplasty — lasted a total of three hours, according to doctors at the hospital.

Lula, who was originally expected to remain in the hospital until Tuesday, was released early after he was able to walk and go up and down the stairs on Sunday with the assistance of a physiotherapist, doctors said. 

Read more: Lula Undergoes Successful Hip Surgery, to Recover in Hospital

Last week, Lula said that he planned to return to work as quickly as possible, and potentially as soon as Monday. He will work from the Alvorada Palace for the next few weeks while he recovers, he said on the social media X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday afternoon. 

“Thank you for the prayers and all the messages of affection,” Lula said. “I’m recovering to work even harder for Brazil and run a marathon.” 

The president’s next major international trip is scheduled for late November, when he’s slated to attend the United Nations’ COP28 climate meetings in Dubai. Lula will then travel to Germany after the summit, before returning to Brazil.

(Adds Lula’s comments from fourth paragraph, details of his trips in November)

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