Austin (Texas) Former
President George H.W. Bush
is in the intensive care unit
of a Houston hospital and is
in “guarded condition,’’
family spokesman Jim McGrath has said. “The president is alert and
conversing with medical
staff, and is surrounded by
family,’’ McGrath said in a
statement. “Following a series of
setbacks including a
persistent fever, President
Bush was admitted to the
intensive care unit at
Methodist Hospital on Sunday where he remains
in guarded condition,’’
McGrath said. “Doctors at Methodist
continue to be cautiously
optimistic about the
current course of
treatment.’’ The 88-year-old was
admitted to the hospital on
Nov. 23 for bronchitis. A hospital spokesman said
in mid-December that the
former president was
expected to be home from
the hospital in time for
Christmas, but the spokesman later said
doctors felt that the former
president should build up
his energy before going
home. Bush has lower body
Parkinsonism, which
causes a loss of balance,
and has used wheelchairs
for more than a year,
McGrath said in an e-mail on Wednesday. Bush, the 41st U.S.
president and a Republican,
took office in 1989 and
served one term in the
White House. The father of former
President George W. Bush,
he also served as a
congressman, ambassador
to the UN, envoy to China,
CIA director and vice president for two terms
under Ronald Reagan.
(Reuters/NAN)