HOUSTON — Former President George H. W. Bush has been in a Houston hospital for the past week battling a cough, his spokesperson confirmed.
He was admitted to Methodist Hospital the day after Thanksgiving for bronchitis.
"It’s developed over the last couple of weeks, but it finally got to the point after Thanksgiving that they wanted to admit him," said spokesman Jim McGrath.
McGrath says Bush is otherwise healthy, getting "plenty of great TLC" from personnel at Methodist .
"He’s lapping it all up," according to McGrath.
McGrath says the family hopes that President Bush, 88, will be discharged by the weekend.
"If you asked him, he would tell you he’s getting out this afternoon," McGrath said.
Barbara Bush has been by his side in the hospital. President George. W. Bush and his wife Laura visited the elder Bush Sunday.
Other relatives, including son Neil, have also stopped by.
President Bush also has a form of Parkinson’s disease that affects his legs. In June, son Jeb Bush told CBS newsman Charlie Rose that his father now relies on a wheelchair or walker to get around.
"That’s hard for a guy who’s been so vital and vigorous in life," said Jeb Bush.
The elder Bush sounded more update about his condition, known as vascular Parkinsonism, in a recent interview.
"It just affects the legs," he told Parade magazine. "It’s not painful. You tell your legs to move and they don’t move. It’s strange, but if you have to have some bad-sounding disease, this is a good one to get."
The Bushes skipped the Republican National Convention in August, citing his health problems.
Until recent years, Bush has belied his age by going skydiving to celebrate turning 75, 80 and 85 years old.
Primary treatments for vascular Parkinsonism focus on reducing stroke risk factors, aspirin therapy to prevent blood clots and physical therapy.
