Kennedy leaves hospital surrounded by family

May 21, 2008 – 12:54 pm

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) — Surrounded by family, a smiling Sen. Edward Kennedy left a Boston hospital Wednesday morning, a day after his doctors announced that he has a malignant brain tumor.

Kennedy waved to the crowd of reporters and onlookers and gave a “thumbs up” sign before getting into a car, accompanied by his wife, Victoria, and their two dogs. He had a bandage on the back of his head, likely covering a scar from the recent biopsy that revealed the tumor.

Among the relatives at Kennedy’s side as he left Massachusetts General Hospital were his son Patrick Kennedy, his daughter Kara Kennedy, and his niece, Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.

The fact that he waved vigorously to the public with his right hand was a good sign, said Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, who is also a neurosurgeon.

The 76-year-old Democrat, who has represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate since his election in 1962, had been walking two of his dogs when he suffered the seizure Saturday at his home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts.

Kennedy’s doctors said Tuesday that preliminary results from the brain biopsy showed that a tumor in the left parietal lobe was responsible for the seizure.

Gupta said a tumor in that area of the brain could affect the senator’s ability to speak and understand speech, as well as the strength on the right side of his body. His right side was “moving pretty well,” Gupta said, although the senator appeared to shuffle a little.

Gupta said such tumors don’t usually metastasize or spread to other parts of the body.

“What they do do — and I think that’s a concern to people — is that they grow, and sometimes they invade other normal parts of the brain. That is the big concern here,” he said.

Malignant glioma is the most common primary brain tumor, accounting for more than half of the 18,000 primary malignant brain tumors diagnosed each year in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Kennedy’s doctors have not announced a course of treatment for the senator, but if surgery can’t be done, the remaining options would be chemotherapy and radiation to try to shrink the tumor, Gupta said.

If those aren’t viable, Kennedy could try to enter a medical trial offering an experimental treatment, he said.

“Sen. Kennedy has recovered remarkably quickly from his Monday procedure and therefore will be released from the hospital today ahead of schedule,” Dr. Lee Schwamm, vice chairman of the neurology department, and Dr. Larry Ronan, Kennedy’s primary care physician, said in a statement Wednesday.

“He will return to his home on Cape Cod while we await further test results and determine treatment plans. He’s feeling well and eager to get started.”

When doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital announced Tuesday that Kennedy was suffering from a brain tumor, the news was met with expressions of sadness and support from his Senate colleagues.

Kennedy is one of only six senators in U.S. history to serve more than 40 years. He is an iconic liberal champion of social issues such as health care, family leave and the minimum wage.

He is the youngest of four brothers in a powerful and legendary family. Oldest brother Joe Kennedy was killed in World War II; John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States ; and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, a former U.S. attorney general, was the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president when he was assassinated in 1968.

On Tuesday, Kennedy’s wife Victoria wrote an e-mail to her friends praising her husband’s reaction to the news, according to The Associated Press.

“Teddy is leading us all, as usual, with his calm approach to getting the best information possible,” the e-mail said, according to AP.

“He’s also making me crazy (and making me laugh) by pushing to race in the Figawi this weekend,” she wrote, referring to the annual sailing race from Cape Cod to Nantucket.

As politicians across party lines reflected on Kennedy’s contributions to the .S. Senate, where he has represented Massachusetts since 1962, many cited his fighting spirit.

“Everybody needs to pull for him and his family and remember this guy is one unbelievable fighter,” fellow Massachusettes Democrat Sen. John Kerry said. “He is determined to fight this because he wants to continue to fight for the people of Massachusetts. He wants to continue fighting for the things he believes here in the U.S. Senate.”

Sen. Barack Obama, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, described Kennedy as a “giant” of the Senate.

“I think you can argue that I would not be sitting here as a presidential candidate had it not been for some of the battles that Ted Kennedy has fought,” Obama told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

“He is somebody who battled for voting rights and civil rights when I was a child. I stand on his shoulders,” said Obama, who was waiting for the results of primaries in Kentucky on Tuesday.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, who is also competing for the Democratic nomination, said Kennedy’s courage and resolve made him one of the greatest legislators in Senate history.

“He’s a fighter. There isn’t anybody like him who gets up and goes out and does battle on behalf of all of us every single day,” Clinton said Tuesday. “I know he’s a fighter when it comes to the challenges he’s facing right now.”

Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican who is the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee, also offered his thoughts and prayers for Kennedy’s family.

“I have described Ted Kennedy as the last lion in the Senate. And I have held that view because he remains the single most effective member of the Senate,” McCain said from his campaign bus, the Straight Talk Express, in Florida.

President Bush said in a statement that he was saddened by the news and would keep the senator in his prayers.

“Laura and I are concerned to learn of our friend Sen. Kennedy’s diagnosis. Ted Kennedy is a man of tremendous courage, remarkable strength and powerful spirit. Our thoughts are with Sen. Kennedy and his family during this difficult period,” he said.

Kennedy had surgery in October to clear his carotid artery in hopes of preventing a stroke. But, in recent days, the powerful Democrat appeared in fine health.

He suffers chronic back pain from injuries suffered in a plane crash in 1964.

Senate Democrats and Republicans were in their weekly closed policy lunches in the Capitol when news of Kennedy’s diagnosis broke.

“Ted Kennedy has spent his life caring for those in need. Now it’s time for those who love Ted and his family to care for them and join in prayer to give them strength,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, a close friend of Kennedy’s, said in a statement.

Source: CNN