Elder George Bush hospitalized with blood infection, responding to treatment

On Sunday, former President George H.W. Bush's office released a photo of first lady Melania Trump standing next to Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Laura Bush, who all appear in front of George H.W. Bush. They were together at a reception before former first lady Barbara Bush’s funeral in Houston, Saturday, April 21, 2018. Bush was hospitalized on Sunday with an infection that spread to his bloodstream, but was recovering Monday.

>>More photos of Houston honoring Barbara Bush less On Sunday, former President George H.W. Bush's office released a photo of first lady Melania Trump standing next to Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Laura Bush, ... more Photo: (Paul Morse For The Office Of George H.W. Bush) Photo: (Paul Morse For The Office Of George H.W. Bush) Image 1 of / 98 Caption Close Elder George Bush hospitalized with blood infection, responding to treatment 1 / 98 Back to Gallery

A day after his wife Barbara was buried, former President George H.W. Bush was admitted to a Houston hospital Sunday for treatment of an infection that had spread to his bloodstream, his spokesman said. By Monday evening, however, the spokesman said the condition of the 93-year-old Bush was improving.

Bush spokesman Jim McGrath revealed the 41st president's hospitalization on Twitter just before 6 p.m. Monday, following a weekend of events celebrating the life of Barbara Bush.

"President Bush was admitted to the Houston Methodist Hospital yesterday morning after contracting an infection that spread to his blood," McGrath wrote Monday. "He is responding to treatments and appears to be recovering. We will issue additional updates as events warrant."

READ ALSO: Well-wishers line up at Barbara Bush's gravesite in College Station

McGrath declined to confirm news reports that Bush was in intensive care and did not immediately clarify why the family decided to wait a day to announce his condition. But the spokesman said Bush was eager to get back to the family's summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, adding, "The 41st president want to go to Maine. He's the most goal-oriented person on the planet and I would not bet against him."

"There is no prediction, per se," as to whether the president might continue recovering or take a turn for the worse, said Dr. Hana El Sahly, an expert in infectious diseases with Baylor College of Medicine. Blood infections typically come from a specific source, such as a bowel infection, pneumonia or a skin infection — but it's not immediately clear what led to Bush's condition, though he has had pneumonia in the past.

Mild blood infections don't always develop into the more serious condition known as sepsis, said Dr. Coburn Allen, an infectious disease specialist with the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin.

READ ALSO: At Barbara Bush Literacy Plaza, fans recall the former first lady's legacy

"It sounds like he was septic at first because they said he was stabilized — and generally if they say you're stabilized it means you weren't at one point," Allen said.

"Generally if you get through the unstable part with a blood stream infection, you don't go back to unstable so it's likely he'll recover completely."

As news of Bush's health troubles spread, supporters took to social media to offer their best wishes for the Bush family patriarch.

"Prayers are with President George H.W. Bush and praying God's grace for his recovery," tweeted U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat.

Senate Republicans tweeted their support as well.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with former President George H.W. Bush and the entire Bush family at this time," the group's official account, @SenateGOP, wrote on Twitter.

SAYING GOODBYE: Houston dresses in blue and pearls for Barbara Bush

Bush's wife Barbara was buried Saturday after a funeral service in Houston that drew more than 1,500 invited guests. She died at home April 17 of complications from congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, having forgone additional medical treatment. The Bushes had been married for 73 years and were holding hands throughout the day she died.

The former president made several public appearances last week, including an unexpected one Friday at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, where Barbara lay in repose for 12 hours. According to McGrath, Bush decided to go to St. Martin's at the last minute Friday afternoon. He greeted well-wishers for just a few minutes, shaking hands with dozens of Houstonians from his wheelchair.

Saturday morning, Bush attended his wife's private funeral service, where he posed for a now-famous photo with his son, former President George W. Bush, former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, former first ladies Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama, and current first lady Melania Trump.

EDITORIAL: The nation mourns a first lady. Houston mourns a neighbor.

After the funeral, Bush made the 90-minute trip to College Station with the family motorcade, where he attended Barbara Bush's burial at the family plot at his presidential library.

The elder Bush's public outings have been limited in recent years, as he suffers from Parkinson's disease and is confined to a wheelchair. But in mid-March Bush attended a bareback riding competition at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, where he shook hands and posed for pictures with a fellow World War II veteran. Months earlier, he and George W. Bush appeared together at a pregame ceremony at Minute Maid Park during the Astros' World Series run.

Last week, Bush did not attend Thursday's public Celebration of Life for Barbara Bush outside City Hall, but he sent a letter to be read to the crowd.

"Barbara would be so moved you came out to honor her tonight," he wrote. "Barbara and I have been in love with Houston since we moved here in 1959. Nowhere are people's hearts more generous than here, something we saw after Hurricane Harvey."

In January 2017, a case of pneumonia landed Bush at Houston Methodist for 12 days, five of them in the intensive care unit. He missed President Donald Trump's inauguration — "My doctor says if I sit outside in January, it likely will put me six feet under," he wrote in a note to Trump. But by early February last year, he and Barbara Bush were at NRG Stadium for Super Bowl 51, where they oversaw the coin toss.

In April of last year, Bush was back at Methodist for two weeks with another case of pneumonia. In June, he celebrated his 93rd birthday with family in Kennebunkport.

Bush has a long history of defying the odds, dating to when he survived his torpedo bomber being shot down over the Pacific Ocean by the Japanese during World War II.

As McGrath said last year, "There's no one more resilient."

Todd Ackerman contributed to this report

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The Bush Family through the years

See the evolution of an American political dynasty with these intimate early family-centric photos of the Bush clan. The Bush Family through the years

See the evolution of an American political dynasty with these intimate early family-centric photos of the Bush clan. Photo: Dirck Halstead, Getty Images Photo: Dirck Halstead, Getty Images Image 1 of / 54 Caption Close A Bush family photo album 1 / 54 Back to Gallery

See photos of the Bush family through the years in the gallery above.