A look back at Pope Francis’ health over the years | Wagon Radio 720

Associated Press (AP) – Pope Francis has been hospitalized three times since he was elected pope in 2013 and underwent major surgery to remove part of one lung when he was young.

In the meantime, the 86-year-old pope has been suffering from sciatica and neuralgia attacks that have made it difficult for him to walk or stand. Most recently, he tore the ligaments in his knee and suffered a minor fracture to one of his knees, forcing him to use a wheelchair and walker for over a year.

Francisco has an attending physician named Dr. Roberto Bernabay, a physician and geriatrician at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Rome. He also has his personal nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti. An employee of the Vatican Medical System, he credits Francisco with saving his life when Strapetti diagnosed a bowel problem in 2021.

In 2022, Francis has appointed Strappetti as his “Personal Health Care Assistant.” Strapetti and Berna Bay usually accompany Francis on his trips abroad.

Introducing the health of the Pope, who is undergoing surgery for an intestinal obstruction.

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1957: In his native Argentina, Francis, then in his early twenties, suffered a severe respiratory infection that forced doctors to partially remove one lung. He later recalled that his nurse had saved his life by deciding to double the amount of medication he was being given at the time.

July 4-14, 2021: Francis will spend 10 days at Rome’s Gemeri hospital due to a stricture in his large intestine, according to the Vatican. Doctors removed 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon. Francis comes out saying he can eat whatever he wants, but he laments that the general anesthesia didn’t work for him.

Jan. 24, 2023: Francis told The Associated Press that the diverticulosis, or bulge in the bowel wall, that led to his 2021 surgery had returned but was under control.

March 29-April 1, 2023: Francisco spends three days in Gemelli with a respiratory infection after feeling sharp pains in his chest and struggling to breathe. Her doctor diagnosed acute bronchitis and treated her with intravenous antibiotics.

June 6, 2023: Francisco returns to the Vatican after an unspecified medical examination in Gemery.

June 7, 2023: Francisco is admitted to Gemelli Hospital for open surgery for an intestinal obstruction, according to the Vatican. The Vatican said he will be hospitalized for several days.