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. In a move that is said to be characteristic of her, former first lady Barbara Bush, 92, who has been hospitalized several times recently for a series of medical problems, has decided “after consulting her family and doctors” that she will not seek additional medical treatment and, instead, focus on comfort care at her home in Houston, the Bush family said in a statement released Sunday. A family spokesman did not elaborate on whether there were other 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. 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. 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. “Cecilia and I ask all Texans to join us in praying for Barbara and the entire Bush family during this time.”

Barbara Bush has been married to George H.W. 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. 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.
Former U.S. First Lady Barbara Bush declines further medical treatment for serious ongoing health issues.