Bush's mother recovering from ulcer surgery

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Barbara Bush, mother of President George W. Bush, underwent surgery late on Tuesday to treat a perforated ulcer, a family spokesman said on Wednesday.

Bush, 83, underwent routine, laparoscopic surgery on Tuesday night at Methodist Hospital in Houston after complaining of abdominal pain, the hospital said in a statement.

Barbara Bush, the wife of former President George H.W. Bush and father of the president, was resting comfortably on Wednesday morning and was expected to be discharged from hospital next week, the statement said.

During the procedure, surgeons cleaned her abdominal area, then patched and closed a one-centimeter (3/8 inch) hole in her stomach caused by the ulcer, it said.

"I am thankful for the fact that my mother is doing well," President Bush told a crowd gathered in the White House Rose Garden for the presidential pardon granted annually to a Thanksgiving turkey.

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Editing by Sandra Maler)