Pope Francis hospitalized, set to have surgery

Pope Francis went to the hospital Wednesday to undergo abdominal surgery to treat an intestinal blockage, two years after he had 13 inches of his colon removed because of an inflammation and narrowing of the large intestine. The Vatican said Francis, 86, would be put under general anesthesia for the procedure Wednesday afternoon and would be hospitalized at Rome's Gemelli hospital for several days. Francis' white Fiat 500 car pulled out of the Vatican shortly after 11 a.m. with an escort, witnesses said, headed for Gemelli. The pope was undergoing what the Vatican said was a “laparotomy and abdominal wall plastic surgery with prosthesis” to treat a “recurrent, painful and worsening” constriction of the intestine. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/nat... ►Subscribe: https://on.wtsp.com/youtube ►Website: https://www.wtsp.com/ ►Facebook:   / 10tampabay   ►Twitter:   / 10tampabay