Posted on 02/26/2005 6:54:09 AM PST by NYer
ROME (Reuters) - Pope John Paul (news - web sites) spent a restful night in hospital after throat surgery and was breathing unassisted but doctors have advised him not to speak for several days, the Vatican (news - web sites) said on Friday.
The Vatican's first medical bulletin, issued some 16 hours after the Pope had a tracheotomy to open his windpipe and help him breathe, aimed at soothing a worried Roman Catholic Church. Spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told reporters the 84-year-old Pope's heart and blood circulation were good and he had no bronchial pneumonia infection -- a possible complication of the operation on Thursday to ease his breathing problems.
"The Holy Father spent a night of tranquil rest. This morning he ate breakfast with a good appetite," he said, adding that it consisted of milk with coffee, biscuits and yogurt.
"The post-operative situation continues regularly. He is breathing on his own and cardio-circulatory conditions remain good ... he does not need respiratory assistance, that means no mechanical device was used either yesterday or today," he said.
Among the world's many relieved Catholics was Sister Maria Pinni, a 92-year-old Italian nun walking in St Peter's Square.
"What anxiety he put me through!" she said when told that the Pope appeared to be doing well. "That's good news and gives us reason to hope he will recover fully and remain well." The Pope was rushed to hospital for the second time this month on Thursday with a relapse of acute breathing problems.
In the evening doctors cut a hole in his windpipe to prevent him from choking and placed a tube into his throat to allow air to flow directly to his lungs.
Navarro-Valls said that when he awoke from surgery the Pope asked for paper and wrote jokingly: "What have they done to me."
He also scribbled his Latin motto "Totus Tuus," (totally yours), a phrase about his devotion to the Mother of God.
BUSH SENDS BEST
As Catholics around the world prayed, leaders who acknowledge the Pope's towering role in the events of the 20th century -- including helping the fall of communism in his native Poland -- expressed their affection and apprehension.
"The Holy Father is in our thoughts and prayers, and we wish him a speedy recovery and return to the service of his Church and all humanity," President Bush (news - web sites) said.
While the Pope is alive he is the only leader of the 1.1 billion-member Roman Catholic Church. Its bureaucracy can run without him but his aides have no major decision-making powers.
But the man known as the Church's great communicator might not be able to speak for some time, medical experts said, and even then he may need a special device to help him form sounds.
Navarro-Valls sought to play down such fears, indicating the Pope might be speaking again in days not weeks.
"Upon the advice of his doctors, the Pope must not speak for several days so as to favor the recovery of the functions of the larynx," he said.
Medical experts said the operation to open his throat showed he had been in danger and warned there was a significant likelihood he could develop pneumonia, though he has not so far.
"A severe pneumonia can easily be life-threatening in someone of his age and condition," said Dr Paul Larson, assistant professor of neurosurgery at University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center.
The struggle to breathe is the latest health battle that John Paul has fought since he assumed the Papal throne in 1978.
One of the most active popes in history, he played a hand in the fall of communism, spoke out against the war in Iraq (news - web sites), fought for human rights and called for debt relief for poor countries.
But many have criticized his conservative views on contraception, gay marriage and women priests.
Recurrent illnesses over the last few years have raised questions as to whether the leader of the world's Catholics -- the third-longest-serving Pontiff in history, is fit to rule or whether he should resign.
Vatican officials have said he is in control and that any resignation would be "up to (his) conscience." In his weekly address on Sunday, the Pope said the call to "look after the flock" was "particularly alive" in him.
Popes normally reign for life. The last Pope to step down did so some 700 years ago.
His current hospital stay is his 10th since he was elected in 1978 as the first non-Italian Pontiff in some 455 years.
Enough already about the pope. Time to retire.
Do these people actually believe these spin articles out of the Vatican -- one yesterday was talking about how he was eating breakfast -- give me a break. Anyone that has had surgery, the flu, and respiratory problems knows that it takes a lot out of you even at a younger age and food is not the first thing on your mind.
It is obvious from reports coming from the Vatican there are two separate schools of thought on the health of the Pope about 180 degrees from each other. It is also obvious that this man is not the one making decisions right now from comments coming from the Vatican on world affairs.
Now he's in trouble - you'd think that someone with JP's Catholic education would know better than to tick off nuns! ;-)
I haven't always agreed with John Paul II's actions, but I have no doubt he's a good and great man. This non-Catholic hopes he has many more years on this earth.
No, it is not enough. What is "enough" is dim bulb posts.
Time for you to go play in the street.
Counted ten and thought before posting. I (not a Catholic) am fed up with this type of poster.
It emits a foul and a disgusting oder.
He better keep his day job; his "jokes" suck.
So do your posts.
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