Fmr. Pres. Bush may leave hospital this week

Former President George H.W. Bush, who has been at Houston's Methodist Hospital since November due to complications from bronchitis, may be discharged from the hospital next week, according to Bush spokesman Jim McGrath.

"We are hopeful that the President can be discharged this coming week," McGrath told CBS News, "but we're still taking everything one day at a time."

The former president was hospitalized on November 23 of last year to treat a bronchitis-like cough. He was briefly moved to the intensive care unit in December due to what McGrath described as a "stubborn fever," sparking fears that Bush's condition had taken a perilous turn.

Bush's chief of staff, Jean Becker, cautioned against assuming the worst, telling well-wishers that Bush "would ask me to tell you to please put the harps back in the closet." Bush was moved back to a regular patient room at the hospital several days later.

• Fmr. President George H.W. Bush battling "stubborn" fever
• Bush aide: "Please put the harps back in the closet"

The former President, a naval aviator during World War II whose plane was shot down over the Pacific, also suffers from a form of Parkinson's disease.