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Pope leaves hospital
Take it easy, doctors tell him
October 15, 1996
Web posted at: 2:10 p.m. EDT (1810 GMT)ROME (CNN) - Pope John Paul II was released from the hospital Tuesday, a week after having surgery to remove his inflamed appendix. The 76-year-old leader of the Roman Catholic Church left his 10th floor suite at Rome's Gemelli Hospital and, as seen live on CNN, appeared in the main lobby on his way to a car waiting to take him back to the Vatican.
Onlookers, including many hospital patients, cheered and applauded as John Paul left.
The pope, wearing a red cape over his white robes, was accompanied to his car by Francesco Crucitti, the surgeon who led the operating team. He carried a cane as he entered the lobby but walked without it as he left the building.
Earlier, Crucitti removed the pope's 10 stitches and gave him a quick medical check, pronouncing him in good shape.
Public appearances
Doctors have told the pope to rest as much as possible as he continues his convalescence at the Vatican, But he seemed set on continuing to be the visible pope he always has been.
The pontiff's next official public appearance is scheduled for Sunday, when he is due to read his prayer and address from the window of his apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square.
The Vatican has not excluded the possibility that the pope will make a brief appearance at the window on Wednesday, when he marks the 18th anniversary of his 1978 election as the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
Goodbye
Before leaving the hospital, John Paul said goodbye to the rest of the 10th floor patients, including children in the pediatric unit.
One of them, a 10-year-old Peruvian boy named Ramon Carusi, had sent the pope a drawing and get-well poem. "I'm sure you will get well, when I am big I will come and help you, and anyway don't think dying is bad because you will be as free as a bird," he wrote.
"I'm getting out of here today, but you too will get out soon," the pope told the children.
He entered the hospital October 6 and underwent an appendectomy two days later.
The pope's doctors had prescribed the operation to put an end to recurring bouts of fever, which they blamed on an inflamed appendix.
Rome Bureau Chief Brent Sadler and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Pope greets well-wishers from 'third Vatican' - October 13, 1996
- Pope in 'great shape,' reportedly plans public Mass - October 10, 1996
- Pope doing well after surgery, doctors say - October 9, 1996
- Removal of pope's appendix called a success - October 8, 1996
- Pope John Paul undergoes surgery - October 7, 1996
- Pope to enter hospital Sunday for appendix removal - October 4, 1996
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