Pope Francis to leave hospital after five weeks fighting life-threatening pneumonia

“When you have a bilateral pneumonia, your lungs get damaged and the respiratory muscles are in difficulty. You lose your voice a bit, like when you speak too high,” Alfieri said. “As for all patients, young or old but especially older ones, you need time for it to come back as it was.”

Alert and co-operative

The Argentine pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to Gemelli after a bout of bronchitis worsened.

Doctors first diagnosed a complex bacterial, viral and fungal respiratory tract infection and soon thereafter, pneumonia in both lungs. Blood tests showed signs of anaemia, low blood platelets and the onset of kidney failure, all of which later resolved after two blood transfusions.

The most serious setbacks began on February 28, when Francis experienced an acute coughing fit and inhaled vomit, requiring the use of a non-invasive mechanical ventilation mask to help him breathe. He suffered two more respiratory crises a few days later, which required doctors to manually aspirate “copious” amounts of mucus, at which point he began sleeping with the ventilation mask at night to help his lungs clear the accumulation of fluids.

At no point did he lose consciousness, and doctors reported he always remained alert and co-operative.

Loading

Over the past two weeks, he has stabilised and registered slight improvements. He no longer needs to wear the ventilation mask at night, and is cutting back his reliance on high flows of supplemental oxygen during the day. Doctors said the pope, who uses a wheelchair, had probably lost some weight during his hospital stay.

At his home in the Santa Marta hotel, next to St Peter’s Basilica, Francis will have access to supplemental oxygen and 24-hour medical care as needed, though Carbone said he hoped Francis would progressively need less and less supplemental oxygen.

“The Holy Father is improving, and we hope soon he can resume his normal activity,” Carbone said.

First appearance expected

While the pneumonia infection has been successfully treated, Francis will continue to take oral medication for several months to treat the fungal infection in his lungs.

Alfieri said it was actually safer for him to continue his recovery and rehabilitation at the Vatican since hospitals “are the worst place to convalesce because it’s the place where you can catch the most infections”.

The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, declined to confirm any upcoming events, including a scheduled audience on April 8 with King Charles III or Francis’ participation in Easter services at the end of the month. But Carbone said he hoped Francis might be well enough to travel to Turkey at the end of May to participate in an important ecumenical anniversary.

The Vatican announced that before returning to the Vatican, Francis would appear on Sunday morning to bless the faithful from his 10th-floor suite at the hospital. While Francis released an audio message on March 6 and the Vatican distributed a photo of him on March 16, Sunday’s blessing will be the first live appearance since Francis was admitted for what has become the longest hospitalisation of his 12-year papacy.

with Trisha Thomas and Giada Zampano

AP

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.