Former First Lady Barbara Bush is in 'failing health' and won't seek additional medical treatment

AP

Former first lady Barbara Bush listens to a patient's question during a visit to the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013. Bush read a children's book and introduced the patients to her dog during the visit. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

• A family spokesman says former first lady Barbara Bush is in "failing health" and won't seek additional medical treatment.
• Bush, 92, is battling Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and congestive heart failure and has been hospitalized several times over the last year.
• The spokesman said Bush is "surrounded by a family she adores" and appreciates the messages and prayers she's received.

A family spokesman says former first lady Barbara Bush is in "failing health" and won't seek additional medical treatment.

Jim McGrath issued a news release Sunday saying that following a recent series of hospitalizations and after consulting with her family and doctors, the 92-year-old former first lady has decided not to seek additional medical treatment and will instead focus on comfort care.

"It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself - thanks to her abiding faith - but for others," McGrath said in a statement. "She is surrounded by a family she adores, and appreciates the many kind messages and especially the prayers she is receiving."

Bush is battling Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and congestive heart failure and has been hospitalized several times over the last year. She has also been treated for decades for a thyroid condition known as Graves' disease.

She has been married to former president George H.W. Bush for 73 years - since 1945 - and the couple has six children.