Pope Francis has suspended the use of mechanical ventilation to support breathing at night, and his physicians remain hopeful of his sustained recovery, the Vatican said on Wednesday.
The 88-year-old pope has been in hospital care at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for almost five weeks for a serious respiratory infection. His situation has been slowly improving, the latest medical report said.
The clinical status of the Holy Father is confirmed to be improving,” the Vatican said in a statement.
While he was in the hospital, Pope Francis had been receiving non-invasive mechanical ventilation overnight, which means a face mask that assists in pushing air into the lungs. But this assistance has now been suspended. Although he no longer needs the ventilation, he is still getting oxygen through a thin nasal tube, the Vatican confirmed.
Physicians feel that the infection is under control and Francis no longer has fever. His blood work returned to normal levels, indicating unflinching progress toward recovery.
Although these developments were promising, the Vatican did not release a timeline for his discharge, reiterating that his recovery is slow. For the last two weeks, his condition had been noted as stable or improving.
Francis has a past history of lung problems, having had an operation in early adulthood to have half a lung removed because of pleurisy. This predisposes him to respiratory infections.
Aside from lung treatment, the pope has been receiving respiratory physiotherapy to facilitate breathing and physical therapy to enhance mobility. He has been using a wheelchair in recent years because of chronic back and knee pain.
Medical professionals not directly treating him warn that, considering his age and underlying conditions, his road to complete recovery could be long and difficult.
