( CNN ) -- Former first lady Barbara Bush was moved out of the intensive care unit of a Houston , Texas , hospital into a regular room Thursday after surgery to repair and seal a perforated ulcer , a hospital spokeswoman said . Ex-first lady Barbara Bush has been moved out of ICU and into a regular room . Bush , 83 , was in good spirits and was joking with hospital staffers , the Methodist Hospital spokeswoman said . She was being fed intravenously . Her doctor said earlier she will be allowed no food by mouth for about a week , to avoid possibly stretching her abdominal area . The former first lady showed up at Methodist 's emergency room Tuesday night complaining of severe abdominal pain , Dr. Patrick Reardon , who performed the surgery , told reporters Wednesday . Doctors determined Bush had a perforated ulcer in her duodenum , the first portion of the small intestine after the stomach , he 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 one centimeter in diameter . Then , doctors repaired the ulcer and sewed a piece of the fat tissue in the abdomen , on top of it to seal it , Reardon said . Bush 's husband , former President George H.W . Bush , was with her Thursday morning , but was leaving to attend Thanksgiving dinner with his son Neil , the Methodist Hospital spokeswoman told CNN . The ulcer was biopsied and is benign , Reardon said Wednesday . He suggested it might have been caused by anti-inflammatory medications . CNN 's Sean Callebs contributed to this report .
Barbara Bush had surgery to repair and seal a perforated ulcer . Bush , 83 , is in good spirits and was joking with hospital staffers . Former first lady being fed intravenously to avoid stretching abdomen . Comment: