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Pope Francis Is Stable And Alternating Using A Ventilator
Pope Francis is in stable condition, according to the Vatican, but there is still no official, overall prognosis after suffering what medical professionals called a “bronchospasm” on Friday that necessitated his temporary placement on a ventilator.
The Vatican declared in a statement on March 1 that “the Holy Father’s clinical conditions remain stable.”
He alternated between receiving oxygen therapy through his nose and using a non-invasive ventilator, which involves sealing a mask over his mouth and nose, throughout the day because he had “a positive response to the exchange of gasses.”
According to the Vatican, Pope Francis has no fever and no symptoms of leukocytosis, which is characterized by a high white blood cell count. His laboratory blood tests are also stable.
The pope is “actively collaborating” with doctors’ orders, eating normally, and routinely receiving respiratory physiotherapy despite Friday’s crisis, according to the statement, which also stated that there haven’t been any more spasms in the last 24 hours.
The Vatican said the pope spent the afternoon in prayer after receiving the Eucharist and described him as “always vigilant and oriented.”
Physicians are still not providing a general prognosis due to the pope’s fragile health. The update for Saturday follows Francis’s bronchospasm on Friday, in which he inhaled part of his vomit due to constricted and restricted muscles lining the bronchi, the tubes that connect the windpipe to the lungs.
His ingested gastrointestinal contents were promptly suctioned out, and medical professionals started using non-invasive ventilation (NIV), a stage between a standard oxygen mask and a full mechanical ventilator that involves intubating the patient.
When the patient is too weak to breathe correctly on their own, NIV treatment uses an oxygen mask that is firmly sealed to the mouth and nose to prevent air from passing through and provide pressure that helps with inhalation.
After being admitted on February 14th for the treatment of bronchitis, Francis has been in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for more than two weeks. He was later diagnosed with double pneumonia and a complex respiratory infection.
His public and private audiences have been canceled, but he still schedules appointments and signs documents from his hospital room.
The Vatican will distribute the text for publishing, but Pope Francis will not deliver his Sunday Angelus message for the third consecutive week due to his hospital stay, and his Saturday morning jubilee general audience was postponed this week.
Throughout the pope’s hospital stay at the Gemelli, the Vatican, Rome, and the rest of the world, masses, rosaries, and various prayers have been offered for him.
The director of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Eastern Churches, Italian Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, will lead a rosary for the pope and his health in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday night.
Gentle Reminder: Take care not to assume that your strength is the reason you are standing. The one whom God keeps is the one who is kept.
Chychy Jonas
