{"id":22953,"date":"2025-03-29T12:27:19","date_gmt":"2025-03-29T18:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/doctor-cites-the-popes-surprising-improvement\/"},"modified":"2025-03-29T18:27:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T18:27:19","slug":"doctor-cites-the-popes-surprising-improvement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/doctor-cites-the-popes-surprising-improvement\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor cites the pope’s \u2018surprising improvement\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Pope
Pope Francis gestures as he appears at a window of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 23, 2025, where he has been treated for bronchitis and bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14. (AP Photo\/Domenico Stinellis)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Domenico Stinellis)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

ROME \u2013 Pope Francis<\/a> has shown \u2018\u2019a truly surprising improvement\u2019\u2019 since returning to the Vatican<\/a> to convalesce after surviving a life-threatening bout with double pneumonia, the doctor who coordinated the pontiff\u2019s five-week hospitalization said Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find him very lively,\u2019\u2019 Dr. Sergio Alfieri said, after visiting the pope at his apartment in the Santa Marta Domus on Wednesday, three days after his release from Rome\u2019s Gemelli hospital. \u201cI believe that he will return if not to 100%, 90% of where he was before.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Francis appeared frail and weak as he greeted a crowd of well-wishers from a hospital balcony on Sunday. His voice was waning as he praised a woman in the crowd for bringing yellow flowers. He was able to only partially lift his arm to bless the people and he gasped for air as he was wheeled back inside.<\/p>\n

Alfieri said the pope\u2019s voice was regaining strength, and that his reliance on supplemental oxygen has decreased. The limited mobility of his arm was due to an unspecified trauma he sustained before being hospitalized, and that will take time to heal, Alfieri said.<\/p>\n

The 88-year-old pope was hospitalized on Feb. 14 after a long bout with bronchitis that left him breathless at times, and which quickly developed into double pneumonia and revealed a polymicrobial (viral, bacterial and fungal) respiratory infection.<\/a> Throughout the ordeal, doctors emphasized the complexity of his condition, given his age, lack of mobility requiring a wheelchair, and the removal of part of a lung as a young man.<\/p>\n

Alfieri repeated that he didn\u2019t think the pope would make it after a severe respiratory crisis<\/a> a week after being hospitalized, and he informed the pope that a \u201cdecisive\u201d treatment necessary to save him would put his organs at risk.<\/p>\n

\u2019\u2019He gave his consent, and then he looked a Massimiliano Streppetti, whom he named his personal health assistant who assumed the responsibility, to say, \u2018We approve everything,\u2019 also at the price of coming out with damaged kidneys or bone marrow that produces damaging red blood cells,\u2019\u2019 said Alfieri.<\/p>\n

Alfieri preferred to describe the treatment as \u201cdecisive,\u2019\u2019 and not aggressive, and emphasized that no extraordinary, life-extending measures were ever taken. The Feb. 22 incident was one of several critical moments when the pope\u2019s life hung in the balance, the doctor said.<\/p>\n

While Francis beat the double pneumonia in the hospital, Alfieri said he is continuing to treat the fungal infection, which he said will take months to resolve. The pope is also receiving physical, respiratory and speech therapy.<\/p>\n

Alfieri continues to consult the pope\u2019s personal medical team daily, and will visit Francis in the Vatican every week.<\/p>\n

The pope demonstrated his trademark humor in this week\u2019s visit, responding to a comment by Alfieri that the 88-year-old pontiff had the mentality of a 50- or 60-year-old. \u201cAs I leaned in, he said, \u2018Not 50, 40,\u2019\u2019\u2019 Alfieri recalled. \u201cSo his good sense of humor is back.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Doctors have ordered the pope to rest for at least two months and to avoid crowds. But after seeing the pope\u2019s improvements and knowing his work ethic, Alfieri warned that \u201cif he recovers so quickly, they will have to put on the brakes.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Professor
Professor and surgeon Sergio Alfieri, who headed the team who treated Pope Francis during his hospitalization, talks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Gemelli polyclinic hospital in Rome, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Professor
Professor and surgeon Sergio Alfieri, who headed the team who treated Pope Francis during his hospitalization, leaves after an interview with The Associated Press at the Gemelli polyclinic hospital in Rome, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Professor
Professor and surgeon Sergio Alfieri, who headed the team who treated Pope Francis during his hospitalization, poses for a photo during an interview with The Associated Press at the Gemelli polyclinic hospital in Rome, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Professor
Professor and surgeon Sergio Alfieri, who headed the team who treated Pope Francis during his hospitalization, talks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Gemelli polyclinic hospital in Rome, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Professor
Professor and surgeon Sergio Alfieri, who headed the team who treated Pope Francis during his hospitalization, talks with his team before an interview with The Associated Press at the Gemelli polyclinic hospital in Rome, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Professor
Professor and surgeon Sergio Alfieri, who headed the team who treated Pope Francis during his hospitalization, walks with his team before an interview with The Associated Press at the Gemelli polyclinic hospital in Rome, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Professor
Professor and surgeon Sergio Alfieri, second from left, who headed the team who treated Pope Francis during his hospitalization, leaves a patient room his team before an interview with The Associated Press at the Gemelli polyclinic hospital in Rome, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Professor
Professor and surgeon Sergio Alfieri, right, second from left, who headed the team who treated Pope Francis during his hospitalization, talks with his team before an interview with The Associated Press at the Gemelli polyclinic hospital in Rome, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Professor
Professor and surgeon Sergio Alfieri, right, second from left, who headed the team who treated Pope Francis during his hospitalization, walks in a hospital ward before an interview with The Associated Press at the Gemelli polyclinic hospital in Rome, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018I believe that he will return if not to 100%, 90% of where he was before\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2423,2497],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-22953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-pope","tag-roman-catholic"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22953"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=22953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}