Rome: After over five weeks in a Rome hospital undergoing treatment for respiratory ailments and pneumonia, Pope Francis was discharged on Sunday, March 23, but will need at least two months of rest and time before his voice becomes normal.
Minutes before his discharge, the 88-year-old Pope appeared at a window at the Gemelli hospital to give a blessing to the assembled faithful – in his first public appearance since he was admitted on February 14, media reports said.
Doctors say he will need at least two months of rest at the Vatican. During the past five weeks, he presented “two very critical episodes” where his “life was in danger”, Dr Sergio Alfieri, the head of the Gemelli Hospital medical team that has been treating the Pope for an acute respiratory tract infection and bilateral pneumonia, said, as per the Vatican News.
However, he said that the pontiff was never intubated and always remained alert and oriented. According to the doctors, the Pope is not fully healed, but no longer has pneumonia and is now stable. Dr Alfieri said that patients with double pneumonia lose their voice a little and “especially in the elderly, it will take time for your voice to return to normal”, the BBC reported.
Addressing journalists on Saturday evening, Doctor Alfieri, flanked by the Pope’s personal physician, Doctor Sergio Carbone, had announced the Pope’s scheduled discharge, following “steady and rapid medical improvements in his clinical condition and the lifting of the prognosis”, the Vatican News reported. “The good news the world and everyone is waiting for is that tomorrow the Holy Father will be discharged. Tomorrow he will return to Santa Marta,” he said, adding that the past week has seen significant improvements.
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Dr Alfieri said that when the Pope was admitted to the hospital on February 14, he was suffering an acute respiratory insufficiency due to a polymicrobial infection that resulted in bilateral pneumonia and this necessitated a combined pharmacological treatment.
He said that the bilateral pneumonia has been successfully treated, but time is needed for a complete recovery. Thus, the Pope has been prescribed at least two months of convalescence, during which he will be receiving medical care and will be taking an adequate period of rest.
Alfieri noted that the Pope’s health is improving steadily, and the hope is he will soon be able to resume a work schedule. This, however, he clarified, does not mean he will immediately be able to start meeting with people and groups as he did before. The doctor also reiterated, as medical bulletins informed during the Pope’s entire period of hospitalisation, that Pope Francis has proved to be a “good” and collaborative patient, always heeding the indications of the medical team.
Asked what the life of the Pope will be like when he gets home, Alfieri said that with the continuing rehabilitation therapy, hopefully, he will soon be able to resume his normal activities. Pointing out that throughout his time in the hospital, the doctor said Pope Francis has always stayed in touch with current events, both church-related and political, and continued to dedicate himself to work activities.
The pontiff is happy to be discharged, Dr Alfieri reiterated, and as all doctors agree, “the best way to recover is to do so at home”.
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