Former President George H.W. Bush Could Be Released From Hospital This Weekend [UPDATED]

UPDATE: Doctors on Wednesday said they expect former President George H.W. Bush to be released from the hospital as early as this weekend after being initially admitted on Jan. 18 after experiencing breathing trouble. He was subsequently admitted the ICU at Houston Methodist Hospital for treatment of pneumonia.

"President Bush continues to improve as he recovers from pneumonia," doctors wrote in a Wednesday afternoon update. "Despite a lingering cough, his lungs are clearing up, and he is working with physical therapists to build strength."

Given his progress, doctors are hopeful for a weekend discharge from the hospital, they added: "At his current rate of recovery, President Bush's physicians believe he could possibly go home over the weekend."

To read the previous story related to Tuesday's update, see below.

From Jan. 24:

HOUSTON, TX — Former President George H.W. Bush remained in the hospital on Tuesday — nearly a week after being admitted for what doctors described as an "acute breathing problem" — but continued to recover from a subsequent case of pneumonia.

"President Bush had another good night's rest at the Houston Methodist Hospital as he continues to recover from pneumonia," his doctors said in a statement. "He is sitting up; talking with physicians; staff and visitors; and returning phone calls."

The former president underwent an intubation — the insertion of a breathing tube down his trachea — after being initially admitted into the hospital last Wednesday. While the procedure is commonplace among patients experiencing breathing difficulties, it is especially taxing on the elderly. Bush is now 92 years old.

The ordeal of the procedure in particular, and his health maladies in general, have taken a toll on him physically despite his recovery, doctors suggested. "President Bush will continue working with physical therapists to help him regain strength," they wrote succinctly in a two-paragraph update on his condition, the latest post in daily missives to members of the public expressing well wishes for the former head of state.

His wife, the former First Lady Barbara Bush, 91, was discharged from the hospital on Monday. She arrived at the hospital on Jan. 18 for treatment of fatigue and a persistent cough, and doctors later said she was suffering from bronchitis. Doctors said she was given the option of being discharged this past Sunday after being given the all clear but chose to stay in the hospital with her husband.

This week, she continued to visit her husband for moral support and help buoy his spirits, doctors said Tuesday: "After being discharged from Houston Methodist Hospital, Mrs. Bush returned yesterday and again today as a visitor to be by her husband's side."

Bush served as president from 1989 to 1993 after serving as vice president for Ronald Reagan during his two terms in office.

It's unclear how quickly the former president will recover from his latest health issues; only the doctors know the vagaries of such a diagnosis for sure, even as they keep the public apprised of his condition.

This isn't the first time Bush has sought medical attention, as he's been felled by pneumonia and bronchitis in the past, and each time a groundswell of supportive voices emerges from the landscape.

As big a "news story" as the former president's health has been for the past week, another story has emerged: That of the shared devotion of a husband and wife in their twilight years. In a time when politics has divided the nation, each side intractably against the other, a love story has emerged to quell the din with nonagenarian protagonists married a remarkable 72 years.

The Bushes acknowledged the outpouring of support they've received this week, thanking the public in a recent post that was accompanied with a photo of a recovering former president reclining on his hospital bed, his first lady beside him.

Politics touch us all, and the Bushes are innately political figures. But in their time of weakness, people of myriad political stripes and worldviews have suspended their partisanship or ideology to wish them well. And in their moment of weakness, they inadvertently put a spotlight on one of Americans' greatest strengths — a collective generosity of spirit — even amid the entrenched polarization that now defines our time.

>>> Photo of George H.W. Bush and wife, Barbara, via Twitter