"I just remember seeing him on the ground and calling 911 and calling our security," said Vicky Cayetano.

In September 1997, she said her husband, then Governor Ben Cayetano, collapsed in the middle of the night.

He passed out on the floor at their Washington Place home.

She thought he'd had a heart attack.

"When that happened, he didn't follow or recognize the symptoms immediately, so he waited too long and lost too much blood," said Mrs. Cayetano.

By then, the governor had been bleeding internally for a week, due to a bleeding ulcer.

The CDC says, some 25 million Americans will get a bleeding ulcer in their lifetime, as did Cayetano Volunteer Coordinator Toy Arre.

Doctors say stress can be a factor, but the primary culprit in this case, is a bacterial infection which can be treated by antibiotics.

"Just a month ago, I went through the same thing. They gave me two pints of blood. A day later I was out of there," said Toy Arre.

Cayetano may need surgery and a small blood transfusion, but doctors expect he'll make a full recovery and be out of the hospital by Wednesday.