‘Witness to Dignity’: What I experienced at Barbara Bush’s bedside in her final days of life.
Barbara Bush’s family released a statement on Wednesday morning, calling the passing of her mother, an American icon, “very hard to take this morning.”
Barbara Bush died just after 8:45 this morning at the age of 94, her daughter, Jenna Bush Hager, wrote in a statement to ABC News. The family said that Ms. Bush had been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm two weeks ago, but declined to say more about her or how they were treating her.
“She had suffered a stroke many years ago, and was living with heart problems from that first experience and the subsequent angioplasty to reopen a vein that had closed on its own over time.”
The statement continued: “After a short time, she began to experience severe confusion, personality changes, and memory problems. Her condition deteriorated, and at the end of January, her husband, former president George H.W. Bush, discovered that her doctors also discovered that she had a severe aneurysm that had been forming for nearly a year, in the brain stem.
“At that point, the heart of her health care team was the neurology and cardiovascular team at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. During her treatment, she continued to receive excellent care in both departments, and her condition stabilized to the point that there was no other organ to be addressed after the heart surgery was done.”
The family continued: “She also worked closely with the Neurosurgery, Oncology, and Endocrinology departments at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, including her current cardiologist, Dr. Keith Schatz.
“The staff members at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and her personal physicians at the Cardiology and Endocrinology departments were outstanding. Although she was not able to attend any of her daughter’s high school or college graduation classes, she was a great supporter of her daughter’s education.
“Her last days were spent in great comfort and with comfort, surrounded by family and friends. She was surrounded by strong family and friends who shared her many life lessons and who loved and honored her.”
The statement continued: “Her only wish was to see her children graduate from college and start their lives of hard work and achievement, and to see her grandchildren become adults. Her youngest grandchild, John