Randy Travis awake, stabilized after stroke

Singer-songwriter Randy Travis is stable and awake after more than a week in the hospital.

Travis was airlifted to the hospital July 8 with congestive heart failure. While there, he had a stroke and underwent emergency surgery to relieve pressure in his brain.

He will remain hospitalized for two or three more weeks to recover.

The heart issues were not the result of drug or alcohol abuse, according to doctors at the Texas hospital where Travis is being treated. Rather, Travis' family history of cardiomyopathy is probably to blame for his heart trouble.

Now, the singer is awake and speaking after his surgery. He no longer requires devices to support his heart, but is still on a ventilator. A biopsy of his heart revealed scar tissue but no infection.

"As a result of his heart condition, acutely, and the stroke, he was put on a ventilator to help him breathe during his hospitalization," said Dr. Gary Erwin, the pulmonary disease specialist treating Travis. "He remains on that, but we are decreasing that support daily. He is breathing spontaneously with the help of the ventilator and hope to have him weaned off of that very soon breathing completely on his own."

Travis' fiancee, Mary Davis, has been by his side throughout the hospitalization. She released a statement thanking the friends and family that have provided their support throughout his illness.

"I know that those are prayers that have helped mend his heart along with the skilled hands of the physicians and doctors and nurses here at The Heart Hospital of Baylor in Plano," Davis said.