Bush Daughter Recovers in Hospital

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) â€” One of President-elect Bush's twin daughters was recovering in a hospital after she had an emergency appendectomy. <br><br>Jenna Bush, 19, was listed in stable condition following

Tuesday, December 26th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) â€” One of President-elect Bush's twin daughters was recovering in a hospital after she had an emergency appendectomy.

Jenna Bush, 19, was listed in stable condition following the surgery at St. David's Hospital on Christmas night. Aides to Bush said she might be well enough to join the family as early as Wednesday on their Florida vacation.

Bush, wearing a gray cowboy hat, left the governor's mansion in a rain storm to visit his daughter for about 45 minutes after the procedure Monday night. Bush himself had his appendix removed when he was 10 years old.

Jenna Bush was taken to the hospital, a five-minute drive from the mansion, after experiencing abdominal pains Christmas Day.

Doctors performed surgery to remove the appendix, which is a small, finger-shaped pouch of intestinal tissue.

Hospital officials said she would remain there overnight.

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

When an appendix bursts, it spreads infection throughout the abdomen, which can cause infertility in young females and requires intravenous antibiotics and weeks of hospitalization.

If doctors can make the diagnosis and remove the inflamed appendix before it bursts, the patient usually needs to stay in the hospital just one night.

It was not immediately clear whether Jenna Bush's appendix burst.

Jenna is a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin. Her sister, Barbara, attends Yale University.

The president-elect rose at sunrise to jog on Christmas morning, then spent most of the day with friends and family.

He also prepared for the Florida vacation and for his next visit to Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Johndroe said late Monday that Bush still planned to make the trip.

Bush's schedule called for him to leave early Tuesday for Boca Grande, Fla., a favorite family fishing spot on the state's Gulf Coast, north of Fort Myers. Several relatives, including his parents, were to join him.

Florida is the state that gave Bush the presidency. His brother Jeb is governor.

On Thursday, Bush planned to return to the nation's capital for a series of meetings.

With his Jan. 20 inauguration drawing nearer, Bush still must name about half his Cabinet members and fill other top administration posts.