A family spokesperson says former first lady Barbara Bush is in failing health and will no longer be seeking medical treatment. 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 Bush family matriarch is focusing on comfort care, her office said in a statement, adding that Bush had been through a “series” of hospitalizations before making this decision.
The full statement is below:
“Following a recent series of hospitalizations and after consulting with her family and doctors, Mrs. Bush, now age 92, has decided not to seek additional medical treatment 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 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. The Bushes have been married for 73 years.