Francisco "is fine, conscious" and joked after his operation, according to his surgeon

Pope Francis meets “well, awake and aware” after the operation of an abdominal hernia to which he was submitted this Wednesday at the Roman Gemelli hospital, as announced at a press conference by the surgeon Sergio Alfieri.

“The first thing is that the Pope is fine, I think that this is the news that we all expected. He's fine, awake, aware and already he made a joke ten minutes ago“, referred to the doctor in a press conference, unprecedented in the pontificate of Francisco.

Francisco, 86, has had to undergo surgery for an abdominal hernia to avoid intestinal obstruction and required general anesthesia. The Prefecture of the Papal Household, which manages his agenda, today canceled all of Francis' activities until June 18.

Specifically, a laparotomy was performed on an abdominal incisional hernia, probably produced after the operations that Francisco underwent in the past, due to the risk that it could cause a bowel obstruction.

Alfieri explained that the pontiff underwent surgery for peritonitis and other problems "perhaps" in his country, Argentina, which had left him "adhesions" or internal scars in the intestine.

This caused symptoms “painful and increasingly frequent” and, with this operation, these internal scars and their transit have been "released", curing it.

"The pathology for which he has been operated on today is benign, he must do a postoperative period, but once he is discharged, he will leave no trace or worry"said the surgeon.

This is the third time that the pope has been admitted to the Roman hospital, as he was admitted for three nights at the end of March at the Gemelli hospital in Rome for "acute pneumonia."

Francisco also underwent colon surgery for diverticula at the same hospital on July 4, 2021, with the removal of 33 centimeters of intestine, and was discharged after ten days, followed by a slow recovery.

Alfieri, who also carried out this colon operation, wanted to clarify "once and for all" that this disease was also "benign" and "is completely cured."

"The Pope has no other diseases"he assured.

On the other hand, He denied that Francisco has problems with general anesthesia.

“The Holy Father never had a problem with general anesthesia, neither two years ago nor today. Clearly, nobody likes to be operated on or asleep, because at that moment we lose consciousness, in that sense they don't like being asleep, but there has been no problem, ”he said.

The Pope also suffers from a problem with his right knee that forces him to walk with a cane or a wheelchair and has assured on several occasions that he does not want to undergo surgery.

The Argentine pontiff must remain hospitalized at rest but then "You will be able to lead a normal life."

Holy See spokesman Matteo Bruni described the operation as a "success."

The doctor underlined the good humor of Jorge Bergoglio and affirmed that after being woken up in the operation he asked him, ironically, "When do we do the third one?"