Former First Lady Barbara Bush is in failing health and will no longer seek medical treatment. </s> April 16, 2018 -- Former U.S. First Lady Barbara Bush is in "failing health" and won't seek further medical treatment, a family spokesman said Sunday.

"Following a recent series of hospitalizations, and after consulting her family and doctors, Mrs. Bush, now age 92, has decided not to seek additional medical treatment and will instead focus on comfort care," spokesman Jim McGrath in a news release, the Associated Press reported.

He did not provide any details about Mrs. Bush's health problems.

She's received treatment for decades for the thyroid condition Graves' disease, had heart surgery in 2009, and had surgery in 2008 for a perforated ulcer, the AP reported.

Mrs. Bush is at home in Houston. </s> Former first lady Barbara Bush is in failing health, a source close to the Bush family tells CNN.

The source said she is being cared for at her home in Houston and has decided she does not want to go back into the hospital. She has been on oxygen for some time.

Her husband, former President George H. W. Bush is with her, as are daughter Doro and sons Marvin and Neil. Her other sons, former President George W. Bush and former Gov. Jeb Bush, have been in and out visiting her the past week.

Bush’s office released a statement, confirming, after a “recent series of hospitalizations,” she has decided against seeking additional medical help and will instead focus on “comfort care.”

“It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself — thanks to her abiding faith — but for others,” the statement said. “She is surrounded by a family she adores, and appreciates the many kind messages and especially the prayers she is receiving.”

At 92 years old, Bush has been suffering for some time and has been in and out of the hospital multiple times in the last year while battling with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, and congestive heart failure.

Most recently, she was admitted on Good Friday to Houston Methodist Hospital suffering from shortness of breath. She was doing better, and had been released earlier this past week but started to get worse in the past couple of days.

People are generally aware Bush Sr. suffers from a form of Parkinson’s disease that has him in a wheelchair, however most were not aware of the former first lady’s health problems, which started about two years ago.

The Bushes have been married for 73 years. The former president wrote in his book, ‘All the Best, George Bush,’ “We are two people but we are one.”

Bush is the only living wife of one former president and the mother of another former president.

She has dedicated her life post-White House to the cause of literacy, and she and her husband have raised more than a billion dollars for charity since they left office. </s> HOUSTON (CNN) — Former first lady Barbara Bush is in failing health, a source close to the Bush family tells CNN.

The source said she is being cared for at her home in Houston and has decided she does not want to go back into the hospital. She has been on oxygen for some time.

Her husband, former President George H. W. Bush is with her, as are daughter Doro and sons Marvin and Neil. Her other sons, former President George W. Bush and former Gov. Jeb Bush, have been in and out visiting her the past week.

Bush’s office released a statement, confirming after a “recent series of hospitalizations,” she has decided against seeking additional medical help and will instead focus on “comfort care.”

“It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself — thanks to her abiding faith — but for others. She is surrounded by a family she adores, and appreciates the many kind messages and especially the prayers she is receiving,” the statement continued.

At 92 years old, Bush has been suffering for some time and has been in and out of the hospital multiple times in the last year while battling with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, and congestive heart failure.

Most recently, she was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital on Good Friday suffering from shortness of breath. She was doing better and had been released earlier this past week, but started to get worse in the past couple of days.

People are generally aware that Bush Sr. suffers from a form of Parkinson’s disease that has him in a wheelchair; however, most were not aware of the former first lady’s health problems, which started about two years ago.

The Bushes have been married for 73 years. The former President wrote in his book, “All the Best, George Bush:” “We are two people but we are one.”

Bush is the only living wife of one former President and the mother of another former President.

She has dedicated her life post-White House life to the cause of literacy, and she and her husband have raised more than a billion dollars for charity since they left office. </s> A family spokesman said Sunday that the former first lady Barbara Bush is in “failing health” and won’t seek additional medical treatment.

FILE - In a Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013, file photo, former first lady Barbara Bush listens to a patient’s question during a visit to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Former first lady Barbara Bush is in “failing health” and won’t seek additional medical treatment, a Bush family spokesman said.

“Following a recent series of hospitalizations, and after consulting her family and doctors, Mrs. Bush, now age 92, has decided not to seek additional medical treatment and will instead focus on comfort care,” spokesman Jim McGrath said Sunday in a news release.

McGrath did not elaborate as to the nature of Bush’s health problems. She has been treated for decades for Graves’ disease, which is a thyroid condition, had heart surgery in 2009 for a severe narrowing of her main heart valve and was hospitalized a year before that for surgery on a perforated ulcer.

“It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself — thanks to her abiding faith — but for others,” McGrath said. “She is surrounded by a family she adores, and appreciates the many kind messages and especially the prayers she is receiving.”

Bush, who is at home in Houston, is one of only two first ladies who was also the mother of a president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, the nation’s second president, and mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president.

Bush married George H.W. Bush on Jan. 6, 1945. They had six children and have been married longer than any presidential couple in American history.

Eight years after she and her husband left the White House, Mrs. Bush stood with her husband as their son George W. was sworn in as the 43rd president.

President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement Sunday evening that “the President’s and first lady’s prayers are with all of the Bush family during this time.”

Bush is known for her white hair and her triple-strand fake pearl necklace.

Her brown hair began to grey in the 1950s, while her 3-year-old daughter Pauline, known to her family as Robin, underwent treatment for leukemia and eventually died in October 1953. She later said dyed hair didn’t look good on her and credited the colour to the public’s perception of her as “everybody’s grandmother.”

Her pearls sparked a national fashion trend when she wore them to her husband’s inauguration in 1989. The pearls became synonymous with Bush, who later said she selected them to hide the wrinkles in her neck. The candid admission only bolstered her common sense and down-to-earth public image.

Her 93-year-old husband, the nation’s 41st president who served from 1989 to 1993, also has had health issues in recent years. In April 2017, he was hospitalized in Houston for two weeks for a mild case of pneumonia and chronic bronchitis. He was hospitalized months earlier, also for pneumonia. He has a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility.

Before being president, he served as a congressman, CIA director and Ronald Reagan’s vice-president.

Barbara Pierce Bush was born June 8, 1925, in Rye, New York. Her father was the publisher of McCall’s and Redbook magazines. She and George H.W. Bush married when she was 19 and while he was a young naval aviator. After World War II, the Bushes moved to Texas where he went into the oil business.

Along with her memoirs, she’s the author of “C. Fred’s Story” and “Millie’s Book,” based on the lives of her dogs. Proceeds from the books benefited adult and family literacy programs. The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy began during her White House years with the goal of improving the lives of disadvantaged Americans by boosting literacy among parents and their children. The foundation partners with local programs and had awarded more than $40 million as of 2014 to create or expand more than 1,500 literacy programs nationwide.

Related: McMaster out, Bolton in as Trump’s national security adviser

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. </s> Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, former First Lady Barbara Bush, have both been hospitalized, his spokesman said Wednesday.

Jim McGrath told CNN that the 41st president has been hospitalized at Houston Methodist Hospital since Saturday, and later said in a statement the cause was “an acute respiratory problem stemming from pneumonia. Doctors performed a procedure to protect and clear his airway that required sedation.”

He said Bush is responding well to treatments.

Barbara Bush also was admitted to the hospital Wednesday morning as a precaution after “experiencing fatigue and coughing,” McGrath said in the statement.

Bush, who served a single term as President from 1989 to 1993, was already not expected to attend the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in Washington on Friday due to health concerns.

Bush sent a letter to the President-elect on January 10, apologizing for missing the ceremony and saying that he and Barbara “wish you the very best as you begin this incredible journey of leading our great country.”

Several bouts with illness have kept the 92-year-old out of the spotlight in recent years and he has rarely made public remarks.

Previous health concerns

 Bush revealed several years ago that he suffered from a form of Parkinson’s disease that left him unable to walk. He uses a wheelchair or a scooter to get around and had two other health scares in 2014 and 2015.

In December 2014, he was hospitalized after experiencing shortness of breath, and the following July fell at his home in Kennebunkport, Maine, breaking the C2 vertebrae in his neck.

The injury did not result in any neurological problems, his spokesman said at the time.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to accurately state the years George H.W. Bush served as president of the United States. </s> What is known about former first lady Barbara Bush's health

Former first lady Barbara Bush is receiving "comfort care" at her family's home in Houston after deciding she wanted no further medical treatment for unspecified health problems.

The 92-year-old has suffered from congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in recent years, and had surgery in 2009 for severe narrowing of her main heart valve. She also has been treated for decades for a thyroid condition called Graves' disease, and had surgery on a perforated ulcer in 2008.

A family spokesman did not elaborate on whether there were other health problems.

Here is what is known:

People who opt for comfort care receive treatment only for their symptoms, such as shortness of breath or pain, rather than trying to prolong life or cure the underlying health problem, said Tim Simpson, a certified hospice and palliative nurse for almost 28 years

For example, patients having trouble breathing might receive oxygen or steroids; or if they have fluid in their legs because of a bad heart, they might receive diuretics.

"With comfort measures, there are no unnecessary tests except those needed to relieve a patient's symptoms," said Simpson, chief nursing officer at Seasons Hospice in Illinois.

Hospice care has some technical differences. It's for patients who are not expected to live more than six months who sign a waiver officially saying they want only non-life-prolonging treatment of symptoms by a team of caregivers, and it may be covered by Medicare. Comfort care is more of a verbal understanding between doctor and patient, Simpson said.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a progressive lung disease that causes inflamed airways, which become smaller and impede a person's ability to get air out of their lungs, said Dr. Kyle Hogarth, a pulmonologist and associate professor in pulmonary and critical care at the University of Chicago Medicine.

Hogarth said because of the damage to the lungs, airways collapse easily, which is why patients have difficulty exhaling.

It's usually a combination of many things, including airway obstruction and emphysema, he said. People who are frequently diagnosed with bronchitis, especially in the winter, might have undiagnosed COPD, he said.

COPD usually is caused by smoking, though it can develop in nonsmokers, especially those exposed to second-hand smoke.

It also can indirectly affect the heart, which must work harder to pump blood through the lungs.

Heart failure is one of the top reasons older people are hospitalized, and a leading cause of death. It develops when the heart muscle weakens over time and can no longer pump effectively, sometimes because of damage from a heart attack. Fluid can back up into the lungs and leave people gasping for breath.

Many people have both heart and lung problems, Hogarth said. </s> Both former President Bush and his wife Barbara have been hospitalized in a Houston-area hospital:

Former president George H.W. Bush was under observation at an intensive care unit in Houston on Wednesday after being treated for an “acute respiratory problem stemming from pneumonia,” according to a statement from his office. The update described the 92-year-old Bush as “stable and resting comfortably” at Houston Methodist Hospital, but gave no details on how long the former president could remain under medical attention. At the same hospital, former first lady Barbara Bush was also admitted Wednesday as a “precaution” after experiencing fatigue and coughing, a separate statement said. The former president was taken to the hospital Saturday for shortness of breath, and doctors performed a procedure to “protect and clear his airway,” the statement said. Bush was under sedation during the medical intervention, it added. In a tweet, Bush spokesman Jim McGrath wrote that he has “responded very well to treatments.” McGrath added: “Hope to have him out soon.” The Houston Chronicle, quoting Jean Becker, Bush’s chief of staff, said the former president was “fine” and “doing really well” after falling ill recently. She told KHOU in Houston that the nation’s oldest living former president was in stable condition.

NBC News is reporting that the former President has been moved to ICU after what was apparently a second procedure to deal with breathing issues, and that his wife was also hospitalized:

While George H.W. Bush remains in the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital after experiencing “shortness of breath,” the former president’s wife, Barbara, has also been admitted for a separate health issue, the couple’s spokesman said Wednesday. The former first lady was taken to Houston Methodist Hospital on Wednesday morning “as a precaution after experiencing fatigue and coughing,” spokesman Jim McGrath said in a new statement following an update on her husband’s condition. Her husband, 92-year-old Bush, was taken to Houston Methodist Hospital to treat an acute respiratory problem stemming from pneumonia, the statement said. “Doctors performed a procedure to protect and clear his airway that required sedation,” McGrath said. “President Bush is stable and resting comfortably in the ICU, where he will remain for observation.” Bush chief of staff Jean Becker earlier said he’s “fine and he’s doing really well,” according to the Houston Chronicle. Earlier, local media quoted Bush’s chief of staff as saying the 41st president was expected to go home from Houston Methodist Hospital in a few days after he was first hospitalized Saturday.

Few details are being provided regarding the treatment that the former President and his wife are receiving. Hopefully, though, they will both recover quickly and be released. </s> HOUSTON (AP) — The Latest on the hospitalizations of former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara Bush (all times local):

A spokesman says the 91-year-old wife of former President George H.W. Bush is being treated for bronchitis.

Former first lady Barbara Bush was experiencing fatigue and coughing when she checked into Houston Methodist Hospital on Wednesday, just days after her 92-year-old husband was admitted for treatment of pneumonia.

Bush spokesman Jim McGrath said in an email that an update on their conditions is expected Thursday morning.

The nation’s 41st president was moved to an intensive care unit at the hospital on Wednesday after undergoing a procedure to clear his airway.

Bronchitis is known to follow a cough or flu and cause infection or swelling of bronchial tubes. It can be treated with antibiotics.

Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, are receiving well wishes from around the world as they remain hospitalized in Houston.

The 41st president is in intensive care at Houston Methodist Hospital for pneumonia and the former first lady was admitted to the hospital Wednesday after experiencing fatigue and coughing.

Former President Bill Clinton wrote on Twitter: “41 and Barbara — thinking about you both and sending wishes for a speedy recovery. Love, 42.”

Both President-elect Donald Trump and President Barack Obama sent their well wishes to the Bushes as well. Trump said on Twitter that he is looking forward to the couple’s quick recovery, while Obama said at a press conference Wednesday that the Bushes “are as fine a couple as we know.”

Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, remain hospitalized in Houston, where he is in intensive care for pneumonia and she is being watched after complaining of fatigue and coughing.

A family spokesman says the 92-year-old former president went into the ICU on Wednesday and underwent a procedure on his airway. Bush was stable and resting comfortably at Houston Methodist Hospital.

The spokesman later told The Associated Press that doctors were happy with how the procedure went. Bush was first admitted to the hospital Saturday for shortness of breath.

Barbara Bush, who is 91, had not been feeling well for a couple of weeks and decided to seek treatment. The spokesman described the move as precautionary.
Former U.S. First Lady Barbara Bush declines further medical treatment for serious ongoing health issues.