( CNN ) -- Former first lady Barbara Bush was doing well Wednesday following her surgery late Tuesday night to repair and seal a perforated ulcer , according to the surgeon who performed the operation . Former first lady Barbara Bush is recovering in intensive care after her surgergy . `` She is up in a chair . She 's very vigorous . She is in charge , '' said Dr. Patrick Reardon . `` The first thing she did when her lips worked was to tell a joke . '' Bush , 83 , showed up at the emergency room of Methodist Hospital in Houston , Texas , Tuesday night , complaining of severe abdominal pain , Reardon told reporters . `` She declared this was the worst pain she ever had , many times worse than childbirth , '' the doctor said . `` This is not something that she had any doubts there was a problem with . '' After examining her and doing some diagnostic tests , doctors determined Bush had a perforated ulcer in her duodenum , the first portion of the small intestine after the stomach , Reardon said . In the operating room , doctors thoroughly cleaned her abdominal cavity of any contaminants that had leaked through the hole , described by the hospital as being 1 centimeter . Then , doctors repaired the ulcer and used a piece of the omentum , living fat tissue in the abdomen , to sew on top of it to seal it , Reardon said . Bush remained in the hospital 's intensive care unit Wednesday , standard procedure following such surgery . She likely will be there at least 24 to 48 hours , he said . She likely will be hospitalized for at least a week , Reardon said , and wo n't be able to have any food by mouth , as it might stretch the newly repaired ulcer . She also requires intravenous antibiotics to counteract any bacteria released into the abdomen through the hole . `` She 's awake and completely alert , '' he said . `` She 's been visiting with the family and looks very good . '' The condition was caught early , as Bush recognized there was something wrong , Reardon said . He suggested anti-inflammatory medication Bush takes may have caused the ulcer -- a rare but not unheard-of complication . `` It 's uncommon , but it 's not so uncommon that we do n't know how to treat it , '' he said . The ulcer was biopsied and is benign , he said . `` If there were any concerns , the operation would have been a different operation . '' Former President George H.W . Bush was with his wife , Reardon said . `` They 're very affectionate to each other . I hope my marriage is that good , that far into it . He 's got a very positive attitude . '' The mother of President George W. Bush , Barbara Bush was first lady from 1989 to 1993 . Born Barbara Pierce in New York in 1925 , she married her husband in 1945 . She is a distant cousin of Franklin Pierce , who served as president from 1853 to 1857 . She and the former president split their time between Houston and Kennebunkport , Maine .
NEW : `` She is up in a chair . She 's very vigorous , '' says her surgeon . NEW : Doctor says Bush described stomach pain as much worse than childbirth . Surgeons patched and closed a one-centimeter hole in Bush 's stomach . Bush , 83 , is expected to be discharged next week .