George H.W. Bush hospitalized in intensive care unit
| Houston
Former President聽George聽H.W.聽Bush聽is being treated in the intensive care unit at a Houston hospital after suffering "a series of setbacks," including a stubborn fever, his spokesman said.
In a brief email Wednesday, Jim McGrath,聽Bush's聽spokesman in Houston, said the 88-year-old former leader had been admitted Sunday to the ICU at Methodist Hospital. McGrath said聽Bush, the oldest living former U.S. president, was alert and talking to medical staff.
He said doctors are cautiously optimistic about聽Bush's聽treatment and that the former president "remains in guarded condition." He said聽Bush聽was surrounded by family.
Early Thursday, McGrath told The Associated Press he had no new information on聽Bush's聽condition and that he would release another statement "when events warrant it."
Bush聽has been hospitalized since Nov. 23, when he was admitted for a lingering cough related to bronchitis after having been in and out of the hospital for complications related to the illness.
A fever that kept聽Bush聽in the hospital over Christmas had gotten worse and doctors had put him on a liquids-only diet Wednesday following "a series of setbacks.'
"It's an elevated fever, so it's actually gone up in the last day or two," McGrath told The Associated Press. "It's a stubborn fever that won't go away."
But he said the cough that initially brought聽Bush聽to the hospital had improved.
Bush聽was visited on Christmas by his wife, Barbara, his son, Neil, and Neil's wife, Maria, and a grandson, McGrath said.聽Bush's聽daughter, Dorothy, was expected to arrive Wednesday in Houston from Bethesda, Md. The 41st president has also been visited twice by his sons,聽George聽W.聽Bush, the 43rd president, and Jeb聽Bush, the former governor of Florida.
Bush聽and his wife live in Houston during the winter and spend their summers at a home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
The former president was a naval aviator in World War II 鈥� at one point the youngest in the Navy 鈥� and was shot down over the Pacific. He achieved notoriety in retirement for skydiving on at least three of his birthdays since leaving the White House in 1992.
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