(WSIL)---Pope Francis is recovering this week after undergoing surgery Sunday to have part of his colon removed.
He suffers from diverticulitis, a fairly common colon condition.
It starts from a condition called diverticulosis, which 2 out of 3 people in their 60s and 70s develop.
Diverticulosis is when your colon develops pouches on the colon wall. Diverticulitis happens when those pouches become inflamed.
The condition is usually treated with antibiotics, but 10% to 20% of people with similar problems require surgery.
However, while these surgeries are able to be done at most hospitals that do general surgery, local physician Jeff Ripperda said requiring surgery means either the condition was a particularly bad one or the condition is recurring.
"Any time somebody has to have surgery for diverticulitis, it means that they've had a worse course than most people have. It's unusual that somebody would need surgery for it. It's way more common for a person to just need antibiotics to make it better. But the fact that the Pope is requiring surgery tells me, again, he's either had it multiple times or that he had a fairly severe case," said Ripperda.
The Pope is currently recovering from his surgery and is expected to be hospitalized for the rest of the week.
This is the first time the Pope Francis has been admitted into the hospital since becoming pope in 2013.
