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(CNN) - Barbara Bush was released Friday from Methodist Hospital in Houston, nine days after she underwent heart surgery there, the hospital said.

Related video: Bush tears up about wife

She departed Friday morning accompanied by her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, the hospital said.

Updated 11:52 a.m.
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Former first lady Barbara Bush was moved from ICU Saturday after undergoing heart surgery.

(CNN) - Former first lady Barbara Bush was moved Saturday out of intensive care after undergoing heart surgery earlier this week, the former president's spokeswoman said.

Jean Becker, a spokeswoman for former President George H.W. Bush, said the former first lady would be in the hospital for about another week.

Doctors at Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center in Houston, Texas, performed a 2 1/2-hour surgery on Barbara Bush on Wednesday, and replaced her aortic valve with a pig valve.

"From our perspective, this was a very routine procedure, and we expect her to make an excellent recovery," Dr. Gerald Lawrie told reporters on Thursday.

Bush had experienced "severe narrowing of the main valve that lets the blood come out of the heart into the circulation," Lawrie said.

He said an echocardiogram showed her condition was "extremely severe." Typical symptoms of problems with an aortic valve include shortness of breath,
fatigue, weakness and swelling, he said.

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Former first lady Barbara Bush had heart surgery Wednesday in Houston, Texas.

(CNN) - Former first lady Barbara Bush underwent heart surgery Wednesday at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, a hospital spokeswoman told CNN.

Jean Becker, chief of staff for former President George H.W. Bush, said that Barbara Bush, 83, was "fine" following the surgery.

"In fact, she is awake," Becker said.

"We, of course, naively wanted to keep it quiet - Mrs. Bush did," Becker said Wednesday night. "She thought there was too much fuss the last time."

Wednesday's surgery was not related to surgery she had in November for a perforated ulcer.

Her husband is with her in the hospital, where she is expected to remain for seven to 10 days.

"I am very impressed with and grateful to the wonderful team of doctors and nurses at The Methodist Hospital who have helped Barbara," the former president said. "We have every confidence she is in the best hands."

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(CNN) - Former first lady Barbara Bush is feeling "much, much better" and will be released Tuesday from a Houston hospital, former President George H.W. Bush said.

"She was in extraordinary agony" before undergoing surgery a week ago for a perforated ulcer, the former president said at a brief news conference at Methodist Hospital. He referred to his 83-year-old wife as "the silver fox," and apologized that she couldn't be at his side.

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Barbara Bush recovering after surgery.

(CNN) - Former first lady Barbara Bush started a liquid diet Monday as part of her recovery from laparoscopic surgery to repair a perforated ulcer, according to a statement from The Methodist Hospital in Houston.

Bush, 83, is "in good condition and continues to recover as expected," according to the statement. She may remain in the hospital for "several more days so her physicians can monitor the progression of her diet."

The former first lady showed up at Methodist's emergency room last Tuesday, complaining of severe abdominal pain. Doctors determined she had a perforated ulcer in her duodenum, the first portion of the small intestine after the stomach.

Doctors thoroughly cleaned Bush's 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 omentum, fat tissue in the abdomen, on top of it to seal it.

(CNN) - Former first lady Barbara Bush was moved out of the intensive care unit of a Houston, Texas, hospital and into a regular room Thursday after surgery to repair and seal a perforated ulcer, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Bush, 83, was in good spirits and was joking with hospital staffers, the Methodist Hospital spokeswoman said. She was being fed intravenously. Her doctor earlier said she will be allowed no food by mouth for about a week, to avoid possibly stretching her abdominal area.

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Former first lady Barbara Bush has been admitted to a Houston, Texas, hospital.

(CNN) - Former first lady Barbara Bush was resting comfortably Wednesday after undergoing "routine" surgery Tuesday night to correct a perforated ulcer, according to Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas.

Surgeons patched and closed a one-centimeter hole in Bush's stomach caused by the ulcer, the hospital said in a news release Wednesday.

Bush, 83, is expected to be discharged next week, it said.

She was taken to the hospital Tuesday evening for tests after complaining of stomach pain for several days, said a family spokeswoman, Jean Becker.

After she began feeling ill, Bush called her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, at his office to ask him to take her to the hospital. His Secret Service detail drove them both to the hospital, Becker said.

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