# What "procedure" was likely done on George H. W. Bush? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 19, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567 "2017-01-19T20:06:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/1 "2017-01-19T20:06:45Z")
The stories about George Bush (senior) say that he is in the ICU with pneumonia and mentions that a “procedure” was done to “protect and clear his airway” when he was admitted. One story referred to it as surgery. What would that have been? (Mrs. Bush [age 91] is also in the hospital with bronchitis. The news said she’d been feeling poorly for _two weeks._ :smack: Finally decided to get herself checked out. Good idea.) ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/2 "2017-01-19T20:28:00Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The stories about George Bush (senior) say that he is in the ICU with pneumonia and mentions that a “procedure” was done to “protect and clear his airway” when he was admitted. One story referred to it as surgery. What would that have been? > > (Mrs. Bush [age 91] is also in the hospital with bronchitis. The news said she’d been feeling poorly for _two weeks._ :smack: Finally decided to get herself checked out. Good idea.) My best guess is that he had a bronchoscopy with clearing of thick mucus and secretions. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/3 "2017-01-19T21:23:48Z")
Could he have simply been intubated? ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/4 "2017-01-19T21:37:51Z")
Lungs drained? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/5 "2017-01-19T22:07:22Z")
Since no one here is going to be able to answer this factually, let’s move this to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/6 "2017-01-20T01:50:09Z")
He was intubated. From [here:](http://wtop.com/health/2017/01/former-president-george-h-w-bush-and-wife-hospitalized/) "Family spokesman Jim McGrath said physicians for the 92-year-old Bush were evaluating him for removal of the tube, which was inserted Wednesday in a procedure to clear his airway. The 41st president has been in the intensive care unit at Houston Methodist Hospital since Wednesday, relying on a ventilator to breathe. Removing the tube — a procedure known as extubation — would allow Bush to breathe on his own. He was struggling to breathe when he was admitted to the hospital Saturday." ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/7 "2017-01-20T02:01:12Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Could he have simply been intubated? That’s what I came to say. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/8 "2017-01-20T02:18:13Z")
He was probably intubated, if no one has mentioned it yet. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/9 "2017-01-20T02:52:47Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Could he have simply been intubated? > [@Arrendajo](#): > > He was probably intubated, if no one has mentioned it yet. One article used the word _surgery_. FAKE NEWS! (Oops, sorry.) This is worrisome and doesn’t sound great. I hope GHWB and Barbara both recover and get stronger. Pneumonia at that age is so dangerous. When Barbara is feeling better, I’d like to slap her for feeling bad for _two weeks_ before she went to the doctor! But I do kind of understand. I’m not as old as they are, but as you age, you do slip into a state of denial re your body’s ability to just bounce back from an illness that always seemed trivial when you were younger. In your mind, you haven’t aged at all. It’s hard to remember that you’re dragging around this carcass that’s many decades old. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/10 "2017-01-20T03:13:03Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > One article used the word _surgery_. FAKE NEWS! (Oops, sorry.) > > This is worrisome and doesn’t sound great. I hope GHWB and Barbara both recover and get stronger. Pneumonia at that age is so dangerous. Actually, my first thought is that he’d had a tracheostomy, which wouldn’t be at all unusual if they think he’ll need ventilation for more than a few days and is in the sort of condition that might make weaning from the ventilator a long-term project. Like advanced old age. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/11 "2017-01-20T03:39:28Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > When Barbara is feeling better, I’d like to slap her for feeling bad for _two weeks_ before she went to the doctor! That’s actually a classic problem for caregivers - the caregiver is getting sick, but everyone is so focused on the “frail” person they forget caregivers can get sick, too. Happened to my parents - my dad took my mother, who had a 60 year history of heart disease and was very frail, to the hospital with pneumonia, then went home. My sister found him passed out on the floor the kitchen less than a day later. Turns out he was even sicker than mom, but everyone was so focused on mom… They both got better, thank goodness, ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/12 "2017-01-20T08:14:40Z")
He was merely doing one final inspection on the android body that his brain is going to be transplanted into. It’s coming along very well. He’s very happy with the performance of the wrist-mounted lasers and the flight stabilizers, but before the actual procedure takes place, he’d like them to get the speech synthesizer to stop making him sound so French, and he also wants them to finalize the permanent Netflix connection. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/13 "2017-01-24T03:23:40Z")
Bush senior out of ICU, and Barbara sent home. As a widow who has a 92-year old (also) widowed mom in assisted living, I’m glad they’re better, and that they still have each other. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/14 "2017-01-24T03:48:34Z")
I actually voted for the guy back in 1992 because I didn’t trust that Slick Willy. Hope he gets better, but at his age you don’t so much get better as sometimes stop getting worse. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-procedure-was-likely-done-on-george-h-w-bush/777567/15 "2017-01-24T09:40:59Z")
That was just an excuse to skip the inauguration. Moving cinder blocks for a friend would not have been believed.