Family spokeswoman: Former first lady Barbara Bush hospitalized in Texas after feeling ill

Spokeswoman: Barbara Bush hospitalized in Texas

HOUSTON — Former first lady Barbara Bush was hospitalized Saturday in Houston to undergo routine tests but doctors don’t suspect anything serious, a family spokeswoman said.

Bush, 84, was being treated at Methodist Hospital and should be released in a day or two, spokeswoman Jean Becker said late Saturday.

“She hasn’t been feeling well for about a week, and the doctors thought she should come in and undergo a battery of tests,” Becker said. “It’s not serious. She just hasn’t been feeling herself and they’re just trying to figure out why.”

Becker declined to provide details, but said former President George H.W. Bush drove his wife to the hospital Saturday morning after consulting with her doctors. A hospital spokeswoman declined comment, saying information was only being released through the family.

Mrs. Bush was hospitalized for nine days after undergoing heart surgery in March 2009, for a severe narrowing of the main heart valve. Doctors at the time said the condition was common among people her age. She also was hospitalized in November 2008, when she underwent surgery for a perforated ulcer. Doctors said the two ailments were unrelated.