- The Argentine Pope performed a planned operation on Sunday.
- On Monday, spokesperson Matteo Bruni stated that the pope “is in good general condition, alert and breathing spontaneously”.
- The Pope is expected to stay at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome for about 7 days.
The Vatican announced that Pope Francis, 84, had breakfast and got up to walk on Tuesday. Two days later, he underwent surgery for inflammation of the colon.
“Pope Francis had a good rest at night,” spokesman Matteo Bruni said in an update after the surgery on Sunday.
“He had breakfast this morning, he read some newspapers, then got up and went for a walk.”
Bruni added that the results of the routine inspections were “very good.”
The Pope of Argentina underwent a planned operation on Sunday to treat the symptomatic colonic diverticulum stenosis described by the Vatican.
After a colon surgery lasting about three hours on Sunday night, Pope Francis was in good health and remained alert. He is likely to stay in Gemelli Hospital for 7 days.https://t.co/OhEyM4ujJo
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) July 5, 2021
Also called diverticulitis, it is a potentially painful inflammation of the pockets formed in the colon.
The three-hour operation was performed under general anesthesia, and Francis underwent a left hemicolectomy, in which the descending colon-the part connected to the rectum-was removed.
Then connect the remaining colon directly to the rectum.
On Monday, Bruni stated that the pope was “in general, alert and breathing spontaneously” and added that unless complications arise, he will stay in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for about 7 days.
Open surgery
According to an Italian newspaper, the surgeon initially planned to perform a less invasive laparoscopic surgery on the pope, but eventually resumed open surgery.
Laparoscopic surgery, also called keyhole surgery, involves inserting a thin tube into the body to avoid making a large incision in the skin.
But the report stated that the scars left by previous abdominal surgery require laparotomy, which is an open operation.
Read here | Pope Francis, 84, recovers after colon surgery
Health experts say it is not uncommon to change methods during surgery.
The report added that the Pope did not need to perform a colostomy and there was no sign of fever afterwards.
Francis is in the same suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli Hospital used by Pope John Paul II.
The late Pope underwent multiple operations there, including after trying his life in 1981, and a colon tumor in 1992.
He was often there, and he called it “Vatican City 3”, second only to the small city-states and the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, just outside Rome.
According to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, Pope Francis has been suffering from diverticulitis for several months, but plans to undergo surgery in the summer to allow time to recover.
The Pope has postponed his general audience on Wednesday until summer, and there are no other official appointments on his calendar, until Sunday he will preside over the Three Bells Prayer.
If unsurprisingly, he is still in the hospital on Sunday, he can follow the example of John Paul II and lead prayers from his hospital window.
