Information from the Vatican Tuesday indicates Pope Francis is recovering well in the hospital from intestinal surgery he received over the weekend.
“His Holiness Pope Francis rested well during the night,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said. “This morning he had breakfast, read some newspapers and got up to walk. The post-operative recovering is regular. Routine control tests are good.”
Bruni went onto say tests performed following the surgery, which removed half of the pope’s colon, yielded positive results.
He is expected to stay in Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic, which has a special suite reserved for popes, at least through the end of the week.
The Vatican has given few details about the pope’s diagnosis or the procedure he underwent, saying only that he went to the hospital for planned surgery to deal with diverticular stenosis, or narrowing of the colon.
The surgery usually involves removing the left side of the colon, and joining up the remaining healthy parts of the large intestine.
“It looks like the pope had this pathology, and understandably the Italian surgeons have removed that part and stitched it to the rectum to recreate a normal digestive transit,” Dr. Yann Parc, head of staff at the Saint Antoine Hospital in Paris, said.
Diverticular stenosis is a common problem that affects some 80% of people over age 80. However, it only requires surgery if the lining of the colon becomes so scarred that it begins to obstruct the colon.
Francis’ next routine appointment with the public was set for Sunday, July 11. He typically appears on Sundays at a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, blesses the faithful below and speaks for a few minutes. The pope often addresses current events at this time.
If he is still in the hospital by Sunday. Francis might opt to do what one of his predecessors did while recovering at Gemelli. During some of his stays there, St. John Paul II appeared at his hospital room’s window to wave and bless well-wishers outside.
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Reuters