Though he remains at the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU), Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu Ricardo Cardinal Vidal’s condition showed signs of improvement.
Yesterday, the 83-year-old prelate underwent his third X-ray examination at the Perpetual Succour Hospital in Cebu City “with some improvement”, said Dr. Rene Josef Bullecer, one of Vidal’s physicians.
“The result of the third X-ray is better than the two previous results. The reason why he is still under close watch is due to fluctuating blood pressure and the still undetermined cause or origin of the severe pain he suffered last Sunday evening,” he said.
Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma and some priests visited Vidal at the ICU yesterday morning.
Monitoring
“The cardinal said ‘I’m improving,’ ‘I’m doing fine.’ Before, he said he easily gets weak. But now, he feels all right. He is improving and to me that’s happy news,” Palma told reporters yesterday.
Vidal, the Philippine’s most senior cardinal, was rushed to the hospital last Saturday morning after he had irregular breathing patterns while at his residence in Sto. Niño Village in barangay Banilad, Cebu City.
He was diagnosed to have pneumonia—an infection or swelling of the lungs caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites. Upon the advise of doctors, Vidal was placed in the ICU for close monitoring.
Msgr. Joseph Tan, media liaison officer of the Cebu Archdiocese, said it has been the usual practice of Vidal’s physicians to place the cardinal in the ICU whenever he’s admitted to the hospital.
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