George Bush Sr and his
wife Barbara in 2010. His spokesman said he would issue an updated
statement 'when events warrant it.' Photograph: Bob Levey/WireImage
Former US president George Bush Sr remains in intensive care at a Houston hospital, his spokesman said on Thursday.
The 88-year-old was admitted to Methodist hospital's intensive care unit on Sunday, after a series of setbacks including a persistent fever, but he is alert and talking to medical staff, according to Jim McGrath.
In an email on Wednesday, McGrath said that Bush, the oldest living US president, remains in a "guarded condition" and said that doctors were "cautiously optimistic" about his course of treatment.
He is surrounded by his family, McGrath said.
Early on Thursday morning, McGrath told the Associated Press that he had no new information on Bush's condition, but would issue an updated statement "when events warrant it."
Bush was admitted to hospital on November 23 for a stubborn cough related to bronchitis, after being in and out of hospital after complications linked to the illness.
Earlier on Wednesday, McGrath had said a fever that kept Bush in the hospital over Christmas had worsened, and that doctors had put him on a liquids-only diet.
"It's an elevated fever, so it's actually gone up in the last day or two," McGrath said. "It's a stubborn fever that won't go away."
But he said the cough that initially brought Bush to the hospital has improved.
A hospital spokesman said in mid-December that Bush was expected to be home in time for Christmas, but, according to Reuters, the spokesman later said doctors felt he should build up his strength before returning home.
Bush has lower-body Parkinsonism, which causes a loss of balance, and has used wheelchairs for more than a year, McGrath told Reuters in an email.
On Christmas Day, Bush was visited by his wife, Barbara, his son, Neil, and Neil's wife, Maria, and a grandson, McGrath said. Bush's daughter, Dorothy, was expected to arrive on Wednesday in Houston from Bethesda, Maryland. He has also been visited twice by two of his other sons, George W Bush, the 43rd president, and Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida.
Bush and Barbara live in Houston during the winter and spend their summers at their home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
After serving as vice-president under Ronald Reagan, Bush took office as the 41st president in 1989 and served a single term in the White House. He was a naval aviator in the second world war – at one point the youngest in the US navy – and was shot down over the Pacific. After leaving the White House in 1992, he celebrated at least three of his birthdays by skydiving, and had threatened to celebrate his 90th the same way.
Read More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/27/george-bush-sr-intensive-care
The 88-year-old was admitted to Methodist hospital's intensive care unit on Sunday, after a series of setbacks including a persistent fever, but he is alert and talking to medical staff, according to Jim McGrath.
In an email on Wednesday, McGrath said that Bush, the oldest living US president, remains in a "guarded condition" and said that doctors were "cautiously optimistic" about his course of treatment.
He is surrounded by his family, McGrath said.
Early on Thursday morning, McGrath told the Associated Press that he had no new information on Bush's condition, but would issue an updated statement "when events warrant it."
Bush was admitted to hospital on November 23 for a stubborn cough related to bronchitis, after being in and out of hospital after complications linked to the illness.
Earlier on Wednesday, McGrath had said a fever that kept Bush in the hospital over Christmas had worsened, and that doctors had put him on a liquids-only diet.
"It's an elevated fever, so it's actually gone up in the last day or two," McGrath said. "It's a stubborn fever that won't go away."
But he said the cough that initially brought Bush to the hospital has improved.
A hospital spokesman said in mid-December that Bush was expected to be home in time for Christmas, but, according to Reuters, the spokesman later said doctors felt he should build up his strength before returning home.
Bush has lower-body Parkinsonism, which causes a loss of balance, and has used wheelchairs for more than a year, McGrath told Reuters in an email.
On Christmas Day, Bush was visited by his wife, Barbara, his son, Neil, and Neil's wife, Maria, and a grandson, McGrath said. Bush's daughter, Dorothy, was expected to arrive on Wednesday in Houston from Bethesda, Maryland. He has also been visited twice by two of his other sons, George W Bush, the 43rd president, and Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida.
Bush and Barbara live in Houston during the winter and spend their summers at their home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
After serving as vice-president under Ronald Reagan, Bush took office as the 41st president in 1989 and served a single term in the White House. He was a naval aviator in the second world war – at one point the youngest in the US navy – and was shot down over the Pacific. After leaving the White House in 1992, he celebrated at least three of his birthdays by skydiving, and had threatened to celebrate his 90th the same way.
Read More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/27/george-bush-sr-intensive-care
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