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Burns out of intensive care

Posted: Dec 18, 2009 10:45 AM
Updated: Dec 18, 2009 10:45 AM

BILLINGS - Former Senator Conrad Burns has been transferred out of the intensive care unit at the Georgetown University Hospital. Burns continues to recover from the Dec. 9 stroke.

Congressman, Denny Rehberg, at the request of Conrad Burns and his family released the following update from Garrett Burns, the son of Senator Conrad Burns:

Late last night, Senator Conrad Burns was transferred out of the
Intensive Care Unit to the regular rooms in the neurological ward at
Georgetown University Hospital where his recovery will continue.
Burns, who had recently sold his house in Arlington, VA was in the
process of moving back to Montana.

"Dad's progress has been very good," said Garrett Burns. "He's glad
to be moving out of the ICU, although he is eager to leave the
hospital altogether so he can get back to Montana. In the mean time
he's able to carry on conversations and now that he's got a TV, he's
watching Fox News and arguing with the pundits. Our entire family
is humbled by the love and support we've received. We want to thank
all the folks who have included us in their thoughts and prayers."

Cards can be sent to Conrad Burns & Family c/o GAGE, 122 C, NW Suite
380, Washington, DC 20001.

In lieu of flowers, the Burns family requests that interested
families make a donation to their local food bank. Senator Burns is
a strong supporter of the Billings Food Bank.

Doctors have upgraded former Sen. Conrad Burns' condition from critical to serious, and the three-term Montana Republican was talking again as he recovers from a stroke, hospital representatives and his family said Monday.

Burns was hospitalized last Wednesday after the former senator's wife found him disoriented at their home in Arlington, Va. He is being treated at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. "I am not out of the woods yet, but I see the tree line," Burns said in a statement issued by his family through the office of Rep. Denny Rehberg.
The senator's son, Garrett, said in the statement that his father was steadily improving and "pulling pranks on the nurses."
Earlier reports from friends of the former senator suggested the stroke affected the left side of his body, but it was not known how seriously.

Burns and his wife, Phyllis, recently bought a house in Billings and planned to move back to Montana before Christmas. They still plan to move once Burns is released from the hospital, the family said.
Since 2007, Burns has worked as a senior adviser at Gage Business Consulting, a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm run by his former chief of staff, Leo Giacometto.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.