Posted on 02/24/2005 3:08:47 PM PST by prairiebreeze
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope John Paul II underwent a successful operation Thursday night to insert a tube in his throat to relieve his breathing problems, hours after he was rushed back to the hospital for the second time in a month with flu-like symptoms of fever and congestion, the Vatican said.
The pope was conscious and back in his hospital room late Thursday, breathing with the help of a respirator, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
A top aide to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who visited the pope said John Paul was "serene" after waking up from the anesthesia. The pope raised his hand and attempted to speak with doctors but was told not to try, Cabinet Undersecretary Gianni Letta told reporters at Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital in Rome.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the tracheotomy lasted 30 minutes and the outcome was "positive." The pope had approved the procedure, which the Vatican characterized as elective - underscoring that it was not done as an emergency measure.
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The frail, 84-year-old pontiff, who was taken to the hospital shortly before 11 a.m. in an ambulance, will be spending the night in his hospital room, Navarro-Valls said.
But the tracheotomy may require a longer hospital stay and have serious consequences for the pope's abilities to carry out his duties since he will not be able to speak, at least initially, while the breathing tube is in his throat.
Before the tracheotomy, outside medical experts had said John Paul may have pneumonia. However, Navarro-Valls' statement made no reference to pneumonia, saying the pope suffered a narrowing of his larynx.
President Bush, flying home from a European trip, said in a statement: "On behalf of all Americans, Laura and I send our heartfelt best wishes to Pope John Paul II. 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 of all humanity."
The pope's sudden turn for the worse alarmed the faithful from Nigeria to the Philippines to St. Peter's Square, and raised more doubts about his ability to carry on.
"We have prayed for the pope to live as long as possible so we can still share our joy with him," said Zofia Gebala, a 73-year-old retiree, as she left a church in Wadowice, the pope's birthplace in southern Poland. "We are praying for him every day, for his well-being. But it's all in God's hands now."
John Paul, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, had greeted pilgrims twice at the window of his studio at St. Peter's Square since his release from the same hospital on Feb. 10. On Wednesday, he made his longest public appearance - 30 minutes - since he fell ill more than three weeks ago.
With each successive appearance, he seemed a little stronger, a little more alert, and his voice rang out with greater clarity.
That made Thursday's reversal all the more shocking for the faithful.
"We are so scared because he has been sick in the past," said Vanessa Animo Bono, 32, a Catholic being treated at Gemelli. "He is one of the few popes who is actually able to listen to people."
Papal officials played down the seriousness of the hospitalization, saying a patient of the pope's age is always at risk from the flu. Vatican aides said the pope had a fever and congestion in addition to the breathing problems.
ANSA reported the pope was conscious when he arrived at Gemelli and that he was sitting upright in a stretcher. According to the report, people who saw him enter the hospital said his face looked "quite relaxed."
Before the operation, the pope was well enough to joke with his medical team, Letta said. When doctors told the pope that the operation would be a small one, the pontiff retorted: "Small, it depends for whom," he said, citing doctors' accounts.
Earlier Thursday, Vatican officials had said the pope suffered from a "syndrome of influenza."
Chile's ambassador to the Holy See, Maximo Pacheco, told The Associated Press that the pope suffered a "bad relapse," citing a conversation he had with the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
But outside experts said people don't get a relapse of influenza itself. Instead, flu can lead to a bacterial infection such as pneumonia or bronchitis, which is an inflammation of the tubes that carry air into the lungs, or to congestive heart failure, a treatable condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.
Thursday's hospitalization was the pope's eighth since his election in 1978.
The pope's common touch and his willingness to travel to remote places, despite serious health problems that include knee and hip ailments, make him much loved among Catholics.
As with the previous hospitalization, which lasted 10 days, the latest was certain to fuel speculation about whether he could continue as pope, and what would happen if he was incapacitated.
In the clearest sign that the Vatican may be taking the eventuality of papal resignation seriously, Vatican No. 2 Cardinal Angelo Sodano declined to rule out the possibility during John Paul's first hospitalization this month, saying it was up to the pope's conscience.
Thursday's news spread quickly, with the pope's illness flashed on television just as news shows were ending in the Philippines. Church officials relayed a prayer request to the faithful by text message on their cell phones.
Brigid Nolan, 73, saw the news on television in Dublin, Ireland, and walked to St. Columba's church. She lit a candle and offered a five-minute prayer for the pope and her own struggle with Parkinson's.
"I do draw inspiration from his own fight for life," she said. "He is suffering, but he's surviving, and more power to him. I get angry when people say he should quit. He should keep going for every minute God gives him."
Tourists and pilgrims in St. Peter's Square expressed alarm.
"I'm sure he wants to return to the Vatican because he has spent so much time there," said Ornella Lisandrello, 29, an Italian physician. "I'm sure he would like to die at the Vatican."
In the pope's hometown of Wadowice, worshippers offered prayers at St. Mary's church, where the young Karol Wojtyla was baptized.
"This is a very emotional moment for me," said Zdzislaw Szczur. "His suffering really moves me. It's all God's providence now."
I heard on FOX that yes he did have a flu shot.
Most likely.
What's your point?
Sheesh, wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?
This is the first year in a long time I was refused
the flu shot because of my age....I'm so grateful
that I didn't get it.....poor man....I wish him a
miraculous recovery.
I find it difficult to understand how something as serious as a tracheotomy could be considered an "elective" procedure. I fear we are witnessing the Pontiff's final days. My prayers are with him.
I have 2 "nick names" geege (geee-ch) and gigi.....it's short for Jeannine.
Dittos.
I do, too.
First, the article says "flu-like symptoms". It could be from a number of non-flu ailments, including pneumonia, as was specifically stated in the article.
Second, a flu vaccination only protects you from what doctors predict is going to be the most dominant variety of flu that year. It doesn't protect against every strain out there.
Third, the vaccination, just like every one, is not 100% effective. Even if he did get the shot, and it is the strain he was innoculated against, there is still a chance he could get it.
I'm no longer a Catholic, but I was moved by his recent statement about respect for the difficulties of the elderly. It is a hard thing to remember sometimes, even in my own middle age.
I will have to meditate on his statement that the suffering of the sick "is never useless." I don't know. Perhaps in all suffering there are lessons to be learned, but it seems a hard way to learn them sometimes and so often the innocent suffer.
Still, I hope he is not suffering too much and that he either recovers or that if he does not, God grants him the grace to to deal with his situation.
Got it.....thanks.....
Sorry I was so curt. I was a bit touchy from all the jerks from the other thread.
The pope had approved the procedure, which the Vatican characterized as elective - underscoring that it was not done as an emergency measure.
I have never heard of an elective vent proceedure on someone his age, unless of course the election was between the vent and death.
From this article:
When you do a tracheotomy and you decide to do this operation, it is for a longer-term thing. No one knows that the tracheotomy will be permanent, but we're talking about leaving the device in for some time not only to secure the airway, but to allow doctors to do something they call pulmonary cleaning, actually cleaning the lungs. ...
I agree with you -- makes no sense -- never head of it being elective. My prayers are with the pontiff.
Really hate to think that anyone surrounding him could be the new pope because for the most part they seem anti-American as witnessed by their statements.
Suctioning. He is too weak to cough up his own secretions. Used to do it all the time.
Agreed, but hardly the same as artificially being kept alive.
I've gone over and helped people fill out "Advanced Directives" which are basically a list of things a person might want done or not want done if they are in a grave situation. In my state, at the hospitals I've worked at, they are quite specific, such as, "If I cannot swallow, I'd like a feeding tube put in" check yes or no; and "I want every effort to resuscitate me, if there is a possibility I may recover meaningful life" check yes or now. Elsewhere, you can write what you consider meaningful life to be. Those are just examples. Another "If I have severe respiratory distress and require a ventilator to continue living, I want the procedure done" check yes or no. Actually, I think everyone should have an advanced directive with medical durable power of attorney given to someone who will make for you the decisions you want made, should you be unable to communicate. Then, give a copy to that person, to your doctor, to your priest, rabbi or clergyman, and take one with you if you go to the hospital.
It can be an elective procedure if he has a detailed advance directive.
PS, in cases of progressively debilitating diseases, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, ALS, other diseases, patients like to make the decisions about what they want, before the decision is an emergency, or they can no longer make it.
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