After reports earlier Wednesday that former First Lady Barbara Bush would be released later in the day from a Houston hospital, a statement issued just before 11 a.m. said Mrs. Bush had undergone surgery and will remain in the hospital for several more days.

She underwent laparoscopic surgery Tuesday for a perforated ulcer, the hospital said.

Spokesman Jim McGrath says Mrs. Bush will likely remain in Methodist Hospital in Houston until next week.

In the meantime, she's visiting with family members.

McGrath says the surgery Tuesday night was a minimally invasive procedure involving a small incision in the abdomen.

He said surgeons cleansed her abdominal area and closed a one-centimeter hole in her stomach caused by the ulcer.

Mrs. Bush was admitted to Methodist Hospital in Houston Tuesday after complaining of what a family spokesman described as a "little bit of pain."

Her daughter-in-law, First Lady Laura Bush, said she and her husband, President George W. Bush, talked with Mr. Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, and Barbara Bush Tuesday night.

Laura Bush said her in-laws "were both doing very well then."

Interviewed on ABC's "Good Morning America," she said the White House doctor had spoken to Barbara Bush's doctor Wednesday morning and "she's doing very well."