Surgeons Remove Pope’s Appendix

Surgeons who removed Pope John Paul II’s diseased appendix sidestepped questions Tuesday about hand tremors and other health problems but predicted the 76-year-old pontiff would be “sitting in an armchair” within a day.

The doctors said they saw no signs that a benign colon tumor removed in 1992 had returned. The pope’s vital signs held up well during surgery at Gemelli Hospital, and he came through it successfully, they said.

John Paul quickly regained consciousness after general anesthesia, greeting and thanking everyone.

“He should be sitting in an armchair” within a day, said Corrado Manni, chief anesthesiologist during the 50-minute surgery.

“The appendix that was the cause of the pope’s ills doesn’t exist anymore,” Manni said.

The appendectomy aimed to cure what the Vatican said were recurring bouts of inflammation and fever that caused John Paul to cancel some public engagements this year. Frequently, the pope’s energy flags and he walks with difficulty.

That image of the leader of the world’s 950 million Roman Catholics generated concern that the bowel tumor, removed in 1992 and described as benign, had returned.

“This is the moment to demythologize these fantasies,” said the chief surgeon, Francesco Crucitti. “I exclude it categorically. There is no secret.”

But even as doctors called the appendectomy successful, they wouldn’t discuss other aspects of the pope’s health.

Journalists shouted out questions on whether a tremor in the pontiff’s left hand is a sign of Parkinson’s disease--a neurological disorder marked by shaking and a shuffling gait--and what the battery of medical tests showed.

Crucitti would say only that the pontiff is under the care of “other specialists” for other ailments.

Crucitti operated on the pope in 1981 after a Turkish gunman shot the pontiff in the abdomen in an assassination attempt, and he operated again in 1992 for the tumor.

John Paul, rising at 3 a.m. Tuesday, about five hours before his operation, prayed at length, then said a private Mass in the tiny chapel of his hospital suite.

Crucitti said the pope might be discharged “even earlier” than next week but said there was no rush. “Let’s not forget we have a 76-year-old man here,” said Crucitti. “If the pope would rest a little more it would be a good thing.”