Bush Daughter Has Emergency Appendectomy

One of President-elect George W. Bush’s twin daughters was hospitalized Christmas Day for an emergency appendectomy after suffering abdominal pains.

Jenna Bush, a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Texas at Austin, was listed in stable condition at St. David’s Hospital, near the Governor’s Mansion. Hospital officials said she would remain there overnight.

Doctors performed surgery to remove the appendix. At the time of the attack, she was at the mansion. The family was spending Christmas Day there together.

It was not immediately clear if her appendix burst or if doctors were able to remove it before a rupture occurred.

Her father, who had his appendix removed when he was 10 years old, visited his daughter at the hospital Monday night.

“The doctors are very pleased” with her progress, said Gordon Johndroe, a Bush spokesman.

Acute appendicitis is the most common cause of emergency abdominal surgery in childhood, with 60,000 to 80,000 U.S. cases annually.

Bush had risen at sunrise to jog on Christmas morning, then spent most of the day with friends and family.

Bush also had been preparing for a short vacation beginning today in Florida, and for his next visit to Washington later this week.

His daughter’s emergency came after an intense week in which he started filling his Cabinet, met with key interest groups and resigned as Texas governor.

He had spent most of the day at the Governor’s Mansion with his wife, Laura; their twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara; and his mother-in-law, Jenna Welch. Welch, in her 80s, was hospitalized overnight on Wednesday due to an undisclosed illness. The Bushes were also visiting with family friends, aides said.

On Christmas Eve, the Bushes served Communion to scores of worshipers at Tarrytown United Methodist Church.

Bush spent the early part of the Christmas weekend at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, venturing out Saturday afternoon to chat with next-door neighbors hosting a holiday party.