CARACAS, Venezuela ? President Hugo Chavez thanked Venezuelans on Sunday for praying for his health as he undergoes a third round of chemotherapy at a military hospital in Caracas, this time getting the cancer treatment at home rather than Cuba.
Chavez walked into the Dr. Carlos Arvelo Military Hospital accompanied by his daughter Rosa and aides late Saturday. He said his treatment has been going well and aims to prevent reappearance of cancer cells more than two months after he underwent surgery.
"From here, I join all these prayers and masses for the health of all of us," Chavez tweeted Sunday. "God bless you!"
"I want to salute and congratulate all the employees that work at our marvelous Military Hospital," he added in another tweet.
State television broadcast footage of a prayer meeting in Chavez's home state of Barinas, where dozens of Venezuelans listened to a priest who urged government supporters to pray for the president's quick recovery.
"We love you ? your mother, your father and your brothers and all of your family and friends," Chavez's father, Hugo de los Reyes Chavez, said at the prayer meeting. "All the people love you very much."
"Take care of yourself in this battle," he added.
Chavez, who often jokes about relatively serious personal matters, said he was enjoying the preparations before treatment.
"I'm having fun here! And finishing the preparations for my chemotherapy," he said in a third tweet, apparently sent from the hospital before beginning the treatment.
Before entering the hospital, Chavez said on television Saturday that he and his team of Cuban and Venezuelan doctors decided it would be all right for him to undergo chemotherapy in Venezuela after his latest round of medical tests Friday.
"I'm determined to continue living," Chavez said at the hospital. "It's not time to die. What we have to do still is a great deal."
Chavez, who was first elected in 1998, has vowed to bounce back and win re-election in 2012.
Before going to the hospital, Chavez appeared on a balcony of the presidential palace waving to a crowd of cheering supporters. They included a group that played Afro-Venezuelan music, beating on drums and dancing. Some chanted: "Onward, commander!"
The leftist leader swung his hips to the music and saluted black Venezuelans, saying: "Down with racism."
Chavez expressed optimism that he is overcoming cancer, referring to the "illness I had." He said he was making arrangements with his vice president, Elias Jaua, and other officials in order to "continue with this rhythm of treatment."
Chavez underwent surgery in Cuba that removed a cancerous tumor from his pelvic region in June. He has not specified where the tumor was located but said the latest follow-up tests haven't detected any sign of malignant cells in his body. He said the chemotherapy is a preventive measure.
Chavez has appeared with his head shaved the past few weeks after his hair began to fall out as a result of chemotherapy.
The president said during a televised Cabinet meeting on Saturday that he expects to disappear from public view in the coming days but will remain in contact with government officials and his supporters by phone and Twitter.
"In the coming hours, between today and tomorrow we'll be preparing for the third cycle," Chavez said.
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Associated Press writer Patricia Rondon Espin contributed to this report.
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