On April 15th, a family spokesperson said former first lady Barbara Bush “is in failing health and will no longer be seeking medical treatment.” At 92 years old, Bush suffered for some time and had been in and out of the hospital multiple times in the last year battling Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, and congestive heart failure.
In an interview with the TODAY show on Monday, anchor Jenna Bush Hager said of her grandmother:
“She’s in great spirits, and she’s a fighter.” @JennaBushHager updates us on her grandma, Barbara Bush pic.twitter.com/oIsWOYXAXq
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 16, 2018
“She’s a fighter. She’s an enforcer,” the TODAY anchor said Monday, referring to the family’s nickname for the matriarch. “We’re grateful for her, for everybody’s prayers and thoughts, and just know the world is better because she’s in it.”
“We are grateful for her. She’s the best grandma anybody could have ever had — or have,” Jenna said on TODAY, quickly correcting herself.
“She’s with my grandpa, the man she’s loved for over 73 years. They are surrounded by family, but I think the fact that they’re together and that he still says, ‘I love you Barbie’ every night is pretty remarkable,” she said.
In recent years, Bush has been seen using a walker and an oxygen tank. She was briefly hospitalized last year for bronchitis.
She made a vague reference to her health in a recent magazine article published in the alumnae magazine of her alma mater, Smith College.
“I have had great medical care and more operations than you would believe,” she said in the brief post. “I’m not sure God will recognize me; I have so many new body parts!”
Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush participates in the coin toss ahead of the start of Super Bowl LI between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons as former first lady Barbara Bush looks on in Houston, Texas, U.S., February 5, 2017. REUTERS/Adrees LatifBush also remarked on her longtime marriage to her husband in the magazine, writing:
“I am still old and still in love with the man I married 72 years ago.”
The Bush family matriarch chose to focus on comfort care, her office said in a statement, adding that Bush had been through a “series” of hospitalizations before making this decision.