Barbara Bush moves out of ICU
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/03/04/barbara.bush.surgery/art.barbara.bush.gi.jpg caption="Former first lady Barbara Bush was moved from ICU Saturday after undergoing heart surgery."]
(CNN) - Former first lady Barbara Bush was moved Saturday out of intensive care after undergoing heart surgery earlier this week, the former president's spokeswoman said.
Jean Becker, a spokeswoman for former President George H.W. Bush, said the former first lady would be in the hospital for about another week.
Doctors at Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center in Houston, Texas, performed a 2 1/2-hour surgery on Barbara Bush on Wednesday, and replaced her aortic valve with a pig valve.
"From our perspective, this was a very routine procedure, and we expect her to make an excellent recovery," Dr. Gerald Lawrie told reporters on Thursday.
Bush had experienced "severe narrowing of the main valve that lets the blood come out of the heart into the circulation," Lawrie said.
He said an echocardiogram showed her condition was "extremely severe." Typical symptoms of problems with an aortic valve include shortness of breath,
fatigue, weakness and swelling, he said.
Though his patient is 83, "she's a very fit lady," which helped make the operation a "relatively straightforward" procedure," he said.
Barbara Bush had been diagnosed with the problem less than a week before the surgery. Becker said the former president was visiting his wife Saturday at
the hospital.
Barbara Bush has forbidden her children, which include former President George W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, from visiting until she leaves
the hospital, Becker said.
George H.W. Bush visited her shortly after the operation, saying "I've been a nervous wreck about it."
The former politician said he had received telephone calls of support from President Barack Obama and from surviving former presidents.
Asked to describe what occurred between the two when he saw her, he said, "I don't remember any words. I'm not the anecdotal one in the family. It was
just a reunion of two people who love each other."
Afterward, the former president turned to a hospital administrator and said, "I'm sorry I get emotional, but I can't help it."
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It would be also nice if the people that do not have health care or are struggling to make the payments for it each month would have the same excellent care she is getting Jim Hall Kansas City Missouri.
God Bless her and her family. All the best for a speedy recovery.
Excellent medical care is available. The best way to obtain it is by working.
I am amazed at the mentality of those who would be so "hateful" because of a person being ill.
I think most of them must be products of the "me generation" and expect they are FIRST......even before one who is ill.
What a bunch of sickos. I can just see you standing in front of your mirror and saying.........
OH, WHAT A PERFECT WORLD IT WOULD BE IF ALL THE PEOPLE WERE JUST LIKE ME!!!
I'm glad she doesn't have to worry about health unlike the rest of us that are unfortunate. It's good to hear that Barbara and Dick can afford countless heart attacks. It's also a shame that they don't want to share a bit of that health care with the rest of us. But I guess in their eyes health care is a luxury not a necessity, right?
Thank God, Mrs. Bush had good government health care.
It's a shame about the other 47 million Americans, but the Rushpublicans
say no.
So should 47 million other Americans.
I wish Mrs. Bush the best of luck and a speedy recovery. I am a Democrat and I can't believe the political comments people are making at a time like this. Yes, she and her family can afford hospital care, but heart surgery is heart surgery no matter who you are.
@Proud American....you are the IDIOT!!!!
Best to Mrs. Bush!
What Americans need is affordable health care, not affordable health insurance. The insurance companies are parasites.
I wish Barbara Bush a successful and speedy recovery.
Yes, we are starving after being robbed by the bankers,,,but also paying for this ancient relic to continue breathing? Kill the citag and let it become reincarnated as a starving baby in China or India (or even US). Let that old bag reap some of the suffering her family has wrought.
Get Well Soon Mrs. Bush.
Your husband loves you very much and it takes a real man to be able to cry over someone or something he loves. I'll take a man like that anyday over a cold hearted thug.
God Bless
Wouldn't it be wonderful if mental illness received the same level of care...I hear the French and the Brits have good health care. The USA is smart enough to come up with a better plan of universal coverage than any other country, so what is the PROBLEM!
I do not wish Babs ill will, but does anything her family does help the average "JOE" out there. The premiums I pay are out of the ballpark, and the deductible is so high. I hate doctors and don't usually seek health treatment but there are some things I feel I might persue. Broken bones, bloody body. Insane pain. Yea, your husband and son have made it almost impossible to get medical treatment.
sensible Cape Coral FL March 7th, 2009 1:23 pm ET
I'm glad that Mrs. Bush is doing well but I'm sorry we all don't have the same level of health care that she does. Is it our tax money that pays for her care?
-----------------
Medicare pays for her care. It also pays for YOUR mother's care if she's 65 or older if she worked and earned enough credits to be eligible for Social Security - OR if her husband has such elibility.
Also - it's NOT true that most people are automatically discharged from Intensive Care after 2 days, as someone stated in this blog. Discharge depends on many things, including extenuating health concerns - and patients frequently stay in the hospital in step-down units for more than a week.
A speedy recovery to you Mrs. Bush!
Why are some so bothered about who paid for her health coverage? Put the political diatribes aside for once. She was a wonderful first lady and deserves our well wishes. May God bless her and her family.
God bless you Mrs.Bush and get well
WOW ! All that HATE coming from people that belong to the party of love,inclusion, and feel sorry for everybody Dimocrats ? You should be a shamed of it !
Bob,
You are the reason I am not a liberal. Go away angry little man.
Every American citizen deserves the same medical coverage that Mrs. Bush is getting. Those who were sent to war by her husband and son deserve even more. Since neither are true, I care less about her condition just as she did not care about the condition of millions of unisured who suffered from their illness and all solders who received no post-war trauma treatment.
I remember when Supreme Court Justice Bader has recent surgery for cancer. Some republicans and others made ingorant statements. Now some liberals and others are making ignorant statements about the former first lady. This proves my point that ignorance and hate is not the domain of any single party!
Ok. So does this means we'll get better jobs or do we need to send get well cards?
They needed a very powerful microscope to operate on her heart.
Never been a big fan of the Bushes, but I'm glad she made it through and I hope she gets better soon.