Bush daughter released from hospital after appendectomy

AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) -- Jenna Bush, one of President-elect George W. Bush's fraternal twin daughters, was released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon after undergoing an emergency appendectomy on Christmas Day, a hospital spokeswoman said.

A spokesman for the Bush family said Jenna still hoped to travel to Florida, possibly Wednesday, to rendezvous with her father and her grandparents for a family celebration.

A freshman at the University of Texas in Austin, Jenna, 19, was taken to St. David's Medical Hospital from the governor's mansion about 5:30 p.m. EST on Monday after she complained of abdominal pains, said Dan Bartlett, another Bush spokesman. She was at the residence celebrating Christmas with her family, including her twin sister, Barbara.

When Jenna arrived at St. David's, doctors quickly recognized the problem and removed her appendix, Bartlett said.

"Everything went well," he said.

President-elect Bush visited his daughter about 8 p.m. EST.

Bush was traveling Tuesday to Boca Grande, a Florida island resort in the Gulf Coast, to begin a vacation. Jenna hoped to join her family in Florida as early as Wednesday, said Bush spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

This is the second time in a week that a member of the Bush family has been admitted to a hospital.

Laura Bush's mother, Jenna Welch, who is in her 80s, suffered dizzy spells and felt faint Wednesday at a Christmas party. She was held overnight in a hospital for observation.