Edwin Edwards in hospice care at Louisiana home

Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards (D) said Tuesday he has placed himself in home hospice care after being transported to the hospital in an ambulance on Sunday due to significant pain in his right lung.

Edwards, 93, had low blood oxygen and blood pressure, and later made the decision to place himself in hospice care, according to a joint statement from Edwards and his wife.

NEWS: Former La. Governor Edwin Edwards, 93, has placed himself in home hospice care following a hospital visit over the weekend.

EWE says “while people assume that hospice means I’m dying, I assure everyone it’s simply a matter of good and convenient care.” pic.twitter.com/ZXcmXoluYH

— Johnston von Springer (@johnstonvon) July 6, 2021

Edwin and Trina Edwards said physicians at St. Elizabeth performed a battery of tests on the former governor, including X-rays and a CAT scan of both lungs, but the tests did not reveal anything.

“But since I have been in and out of hospitals in recent years with pneumonia and other respiratory problems, causing a lot of people a lot of trouble, I have decided to retain the services of qualified hospice doctors and nurses at home,” Edwin Edwards said in the statement.

The former governor rejected the notion that “hospice means I’m dying,” contending that his decision to enter the medical care was “simply a matter of good and convenient care that is less trouble for everybody.”

He said the end of his life “won’t be anytime soon.”

“I’ve made no bones that I have considered myself on borrowed time for 20 years and we each know that all this fun has to end at some point. But it won’t be anytime soon for me. In fact, I am planning my 95th birthday party for next summer and hope you’ll come,” he said.

Trina Edwards said the decision to go to the hospital was made “out of an abundance of caution” and that the former governor’s “strength has been failing in recent weeks.”

“But Edwin has always rallied back in the past, and we’re praying for that again,” she added.

Edwin Edwards served four terms as Louisiana’s governor, sitting in office from 1972 to 1980, 1984 to 1988 and 1992 to 1996.

Before his time as Louisiana’s chief executive, Edwin Edwards represented the state in Congress for seven years.

After his time in the governor’s mansion, he was convicted on federal corruption charges stemming from the licensing of riverboat casinos during his fourth term in office.

He served 8 ½ years of a 10-year prison sentence.