Bob Hope Goes Home to Continue Recuperation

After a 12-day hospital stay, entertainer Bob Hope went home Thursday to continue his recuperation from a bout with pneumonia.

Hope was in good spirits and looking forward to eating one of his favorites--coffee ice cream--in the comfort of his Toluca Lake home where he has lived since 1938, said his longtime publicist Ward Grant.

Grant, who hadn’t expected the homecoming until today, was surprised to see Hope’s van pull up as Grant looked out the window of his office on the Hope estate.

“I saw the van and ran outside to greet him,” Grant said. “He’s doing fine, although his doctor [Lee Kagan] reminded us it will still take several weeks until he’s back to where he was.”

Hope will be on a restricted diet for a while to ease his recovery, although he did get the ice cream he wanted once he was home, Grant said.

The 98-year-old comedian was admitted Aug. 26 to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank after experiencing breathing problems. He was treated with antibiotics, intravenous fluids and respiratory therapy. His wife, Dolores, and a daughter, Linda, were at his bedside daily.

During his hospitalization, Hope received many get-well cards, phone calls and floral arrangements in addition to 5,500 e-mail wishes and 18,000 visits to his Web site, which regularly updated his condition.

Parishioners at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in North Hollywood offered Masses for Hope, who attended services there with his wife.

Annually, about 80,000 people die of pneumonia, an infection or inflammation of the lungs that can be caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. It is a contributing factor in an additional 100,000 deaths each year.