First Lady Has Eye Tests at Mayo Clinic, Shows Healthy Sense of Humor

First Lady Barbara Bush underwent tests Tuesday for vision problems related to a thyroid disorder and said she expects to return to the Mayo Clinic for treatment.

Mrs. Bush was in a joking mood after the examination. Asked by a reporter how she felt, she replied: “Listen, I could wrestle you to the ground. Nobody feels any better than I do. Truthfully, when I wake up in the morning I can hardly wait to do that which I am going to do today. I’d just like it better if I could just see it once.”

The First Lady said she hopes to be back at the clinic for treatment “in the near future--the nearer in the future, the nearer I am to the end of this dumb ailment.”

Mrs. Bush was diagnosed this year as suffering from Graves’ disease. She has been taking medicine to compensate for normal thyroid functions, but her eyes have been swollen and she has gained weight.

Sondra Haley, an assistant press secretary to the First Lady, earlier said Mrs. Bush also has been bothered by double vision and bloodshot eyes.

“She’s been in consultation with the Mayo doctors,” Haley said. “They knew at some point she would be coming in to have her eyes checked.”

After the tests, Mrs. Bush went to the Rochester public library, where she read a story to about 40 children from six day-care centers before returning to Washington.

She stayed for about half an hour, reading “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day,” which she told the children was one of her favorites.

Mrs. Bush sat in a chair and the children sat on the floor in a semicircle around her.