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Former President George H.W. Bush, 92, has been moved from the intensive care unit at Houston Methodist while former First Lady Barbara Bush has been discharged from the hospital, a family spokesman said.
Bush, the nation's oldest living former president, was admitted to Houston Methodist on January 14 because he was having trouble breathing. Some have speculated that the elder Bush was skipping President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration because of his previous lack of support for the incoming Republican president, but Bush, who has been in increasingly fragile health in recent years, stated in a letter to Trump that his doctors told him "if I sit outside in January, it likely will put me six feet under."
Bush started having more trouble breathing because of a case of pneumonia so doctors sedated him and performed a procedure to keep his airways open last Wednesday. Bush has been in the ICU ever since.
Barbara, his wife of 72 years, was also admitted to the hospital on Wednesday because she was having trouble breathing. She was diagnosed with bronchitis and admitted to the hospital as well so that doctors could keep a close eye on the 91-year-old. Barbara also wanted to stay near her husband.
But now things seem to be on something of an upswing. The couple reportedly watched the presidential inauguration from the hospital. Bush has been gradually recovering, based on the reports of Bush family spokesman Jim McGrath, and has now been moved out of the ICU. Meanwhile, Barbara is going home.
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