Former President George H.W. Bush is back in the hospital, according to his spokesman Jim McGrath.
McGrath posted an update on President Bush’s health on Twitter. He did not specify the former president’s ailment, but offered some hopeful words on his current condition.
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“President @GeorgeHWBush was taken to Southern Maine Health Care (@SMHCHealth) today after experiencing low blood pressure and fatigue,” McGrath wrote. “He will likely remain there for a few days for observation. The former president is awake and alert, and not in any discomfort.”
President @GeorgeHWBush was taken to Southern Maine Health Care (@SMHCHealth) today after experiencing low blood pressure and fatigue. He will likely remain there for a few days for observation. The former president is awake and alert, and not in any discomfort.
— Jim McGrath (@jgm41) May 27, 2018
The one-time president was hospitalized earlier this month for an infection, shortly after the funeral for his wife, former first lady Barbara Bush. He and Barbara were married for 73 years, and she passed away peacefully at the age of 92.
President Bush has been fighting various ailments for years, but a grief expert told PEOPLE that the symptoms he exhibited after the funeral matched takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or “broken heart syndrome.”
“Broken heart syndrome is absolutely a real syndrome, a true medical condition,” said David Kessler, founder of Grief.com. “Grief is a reflection of the love. And the loss of a love so deep can actually be heartbreaking.”
“If two hearts have beaten in rhythm for 73 years, it’s not surprising that when Barbara leaves, that George considers following,” he explained. “They have a love story that not even a little death can stop.”
President Bush’s long-time chief of staff, Jean Becker, admitted that the funeral arrangements had exhausted him.
“So many of you are asking, ‘How is 41?’ He, of course, is broken-hearted to lose his beloved Barbara, his wife of 73 years,” Becker wrote shortly after Barbara Bush’s passing. “He held her hand all day today and was at her side when [she] left this good earth.”
Just one day before his most recent hospitalization, the 93-year-old former president met with veterans at the American Legion Post 159 in Kennebunkport, Maine, according to a report by WCVB.
Bush typically spends his summers in southern Maine, and decided to spend Saturday morning at a monthly pancake breakfast with former military personnel. He was joined by former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft.
The 41st president has spent every summer in Kennebunkport since he was a child, with the exception of the years he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
