Pope is stable, but his speech will suffer
‘POPE John Paul’s ability to speak in public, including his famous orations in St Peter’s Square, will be seriously curtailed by his recent ill-health, experts have said.
Surgeons performed a tracheotomy on the 84-year-old pontiff on Thursday night to assist his breathing.
It is now believed the effects of this operation could be permanent, making it much more difficult for the Pope - whose voice is already weakened and at times inaudible as a result of Parkinson’s disease - to speak at length.
The procedure at the Gemelli hospital in Rome involved an incision into the trachea, or windpipe, in order to remove phlegm and assist his breathing. The Pope’s hunched posture and the muscular weakness which comes with Parkinson’s has made him more likely to suffer what is known as retained secretions which, in his weakened state, he cannot clear unaided and which could develop into pneumonia.’
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