Barbara Bush is making a quick recovery after surgery for a perforated ulcer that was causing pain she described as "worse than childbirth," the Houston Chronicle reports. The 83-year-old was sitting up and joking less than a day after the procedure, which her husband called "serious and scary." The former first lady won't be able to eat Thanksgiving turkey, however; she'll be fed meal intravenously before shifting to a liquid diet.
(More Barbara Bush stories.)