Posted on 02/24/2005 11:28:05 AM PST by Hillary's Lovely Legs
FOX NEWS: Pope has been taken to operating room. Doctors preparing to operate.
I wonder what kind of operation this would be - I thought he had a virus?
I am not Catholic, but I am a Christian and will pray for him, but I think the Catholics may want to be prepared for a "smoke watch"...
Tracheotomy
Pope's Doctors Consulting Over Tracheotomy
4 minutes ago
Add to My Yahoo! Europe - AP
By VICTOR SIMPSON, Associated Press Writer
VATICAN CITY - Doctors were consulting about the possibility of performing a tracheotomy on Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II, who was hospitalized Thursday after suffering fever and congestion from a recurrence of the flu, a news agency reported.
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Slideshow Slideshow: Pope John Paul II
ANSA, an Italian news agency, said doctors were considering the procedure in which a hole is made in the throat and a tube is inserted to assist breathing. The report did not cite sources.
The 84-year-old pontiff, who appeared to have rebounded strongly after being hospitalized with the flu and breathing problems earlier this month, was rushed to the hospital again Thursday.
During his 10-day hospitalization earlier this month, the Vatican (news - web sites) said John Paul did not require a tracheotomy.
The 84-year-old pontiff had the same symptoms of the breathing crisis that sent him to Gemelli Polyclinic on Feb. 1, a Vatican official said on condition of anonymity. On Wednesday, the pope made his longest public appearance since being discharged from the clinic two weeks ago.
Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the pope was taken to the Rome hospital for "necessary specialized assistance and further tests." He was taken by ambulance at 10:45 a.m., officials said.
Vatican officials played down the seriousness of the hospitalization, saying a patient of the pope's age is always at risk from the flu. The pope also has Parkinson's disease (news - web sites) and crippling knee and hip ailments.
But aides said the pope had a fever, congestion and had suffered a recurrence of breathing problems.
Medical experts who have not examined the pope but are familiar with elderly Parkinson's patients say his symptoms appeared to be consistent with pneumonia.
"It appears the pope is suffering from pneumonia, likely a bacterial pneumonia, a serious problem for a man of his age with Parkinson's," said Dr. Barbara Paris, chairwoman of geriatrics and vice-chairwoman of Medicine at Maimonides Medical Center in New York.
The Vatican declined to respond to outside medical speculation about the pope's possible condition.
The Italian news agency ANSA reported that the pope arrived conscious at Gemelli in a private ambulance. He was taken inside in a stretcher, the report said, and quoted people who saw him enter the hospital as saying his face looked "quite relaxed." The news agency said he did not need a tube inserted into his windpipe to assist breathing.
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. Pacheco said he did not have any more information on the pope's condition.
A medical health bulletin was to be issued Friday morning, and no details on the pope's health were expected to be released before that, the Vatican said. Thursday's hospitalization was the pope's eighth since his election in 1978.
The pope's illness drew concern around the world.
The U.S. administration wished him a speedy recovery.
"We hope the pope recovers as soon as possible. He's in our thoughts and prayers," White House spokesman Fred Jones said.
In the pope's hometown of Wadowice, in southern Poland, worshippers offered prayers at an afternoon Mass in St. Mary's church, where the young Karol Wojtyla was baptized.
"This is very emotional moment for me," said Zdzislaw Szczur, 54, the head of the Wadowice branch of Solidarity, the trade union best known abroad for its struggle in the 1980s to bring down communism. "His suffering really moves me. It's all God's providence now."
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."
The pope's breathing problems can complicate the swallowing difficulties characteristic of Parkinson's disease. The lack of coordination of the muscles involved make it easy for food or saliva to get into the lungs. That can cause pneumonia and is one of the most common causes of death among Parkinson's patients.
Doctors sometimes bypass the throat by inserting a feeding tube directly into the stomach, both to help patients who have difficulty eating and to help prevent food going down to the lungs.
The muscle problems and the pope's stooped posture also could make it difficult for him to head off infections by mustering a powerful enough cough to shake mucus out of the lungs.
Rome has been particularly cold, wet and windy in recent days. The pope has twice appeared at his open studio window to address crowds in St. Peter's Square since his Feb. 10 discharge from the hospital, where he had been treated for breathing difficulties following a bout with the flu.
But the pope failed to show up Thursday morning for a scheduled meeting on new candidates for sainthood. No explanation was given for his absence and the ceremony went ahead, presided by Sodano, the Vatican's No. 2 official.
The Vatican released a letter the pope had sent for the canonization ceremony, saying that "for reasons of caution," he had been advised to follow it from his apartment by closed-circuit television — an indication that the decision to take him to the hospital was made suddenly.
The pope had been convalescing after his hospitalization but had appeared to be making a rebound. At each new public appearance, he appeared stronger, more alert, and his voice was clearer.
On Wednesday, the pope wheezed and looked gaunt but managed to make his longest public appearance since leaving the hospital.
The Vatican originally had planned for the frail pontiff to address pilgrims in St. Peter's Square from his apartment window but decided instead on a video hookup because of the rain and winds.
In all, the pope followed the audience for 30 minutes — the most he has appeared in public since returning from the hospital. Fully alert, he waved and gave his blessing at the end.
When John Paul was discharged from the hospital, the Vatican made clear he would decide on his schedule in consultation with his doctors.
Because of his ailments, there has long been speculation that John Paul might consider resigning. That debate was fueled during his earlier hospitalization when Cardinal Sodano declined to rule out that possibility, saying it was up to the pope's "conscience."
The Gemelli Polyclinic has taken in John Paul so often that it has been dubbed by the Italian press as "The Third Vatican," after the seat of the Holy See on St. Peter's Square and the pope's summer residence in the town of Castel Gandolfo.
The hospital has a suite on the 10th floor that includes a chapel, kitchen and sleeping quarters for his longtime aide.
In 1981, the pope was shot in the abdomen and hand in a shooting attack by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca in St. Peter's Square. He spent 20 days at Gemelli after undergoing surgery.
The Gemelli clinic was under tight security Thursday.
Watching and listening intently now. Just called my sister who works at a church. Prayers, prayers are needed now.
A tracheotomy
tracheotomy.
My guess: they haven't had enough success draining the lungs, they're going to drain them through a tube passed through the abdomen.
Time for prayers anew.
Catholic pings needed.
I am a Roman Catholic and I have been praying for the Holy Father all day!
There was a thread earlier that doctors were considering a tracheotomy. Is that what they're doing, HLL?
God be with you John Paul.
Good thing I didn't go to med school. Prayers up.
It will be so weird when there is a new Pope. This Pope is the only one I have ever known my whole life. I am not Catholic but have great respect for all that the Catholics do to help the poor, sick, etc.....I will be praying for the Pope.
((((Ping))))
I had no idea you hosted a talk show.
This is very bad. I will keep praying for him.
Pneumonia ??
If so .. it's not good news for a man his age with so many health problems
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