Sen. Kennedy goes home after cancer diagnosis
BOSTON (Reuters) - Sen. Edward Kennedy, an elder statesman of U.S. liberal politics and brother of slain President John Kennedy, was released from hospital on Wednesday after being diagnosed with a deadly brain tumor.
Kennedy, 76, waved to sympathizers, embraced family members and greeted his two dogs as he left Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston before returning to his family's Cape Cod vacation home where he suffered a seizure on Saturday.
"I'm doing well, glad to be back home," the white-haired patriarch of America's most storied political family told reporters after arriving at his home in Hyannisport on Cape Cod, dressed in a blue sport coat and open-necked shirt.
Kennedy was diagnosed on Tuesday with a malignant glioma, a type of tumor that kills half its victims within a year. Patients rarely survive more than three years. Even surgery cannot cure such a tumor, doctors agree.
His wife Victoria, his son Rep. Patrick Kennedy of neighboring Rhode Island and his niece Caroline Kennedy accompanied him as he emerged from the hospital.
Kennedy's illness will not threaten the balance of power in the closely divided U.S. Senate, now held by his Democratic party, 51-49.
Should he be unable to continue to serve, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick would call a special election between 145 and 160 days after the vacancy of his seat becomes official.
The prospect of his incapacitation as he undergoes planned chemotherapy has sparked inevitable speculation over who might succeed the second-longest serving current senator, and whether a new generation of Kennedys is poised to emerge from his shadow to continue the family legacy.
Options are limited for another Kennedy to take the Senate seat held by the family for nearly five decades. Kennedy's nephew, Joseph Kennedy -- son of assassinated Sen. Robert Kennedy -- is often cited as one possibility.
The senator's doctors said his treatment might also include radiation therapy.
"Senator Kennedy has recovered remarkably quickly from his Monday procedure and therefore will be released from the hospital today ahead of schedule," his doctors, neurologist Dr. Lee Schwamm and physician Dr. Larry Ronan, said in a joint statement.
'BOOMING VOICE'
The doctors described Kennedy as "feeling well and eager to get started." A white bandage was visible on the back of his head as he emerged from the hospital.
It is unclear whether Kennedy, known as Teddy, will have to resign because of his illness, but he is expected to take time off from the Senate while undergoing chemotherapy.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said she was pleased to hear Kennedy was released from the hospital and is anxious to see and hear him back at work.
"We know that Senator Kennedy is coming back and we hope he is coming back very soon," Klobuchar said. "We miss him."
"His booming voice on the Senate floor is something that I actually like to have visitors come to watch him and hear because he is just an amazing person," she added.
The chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is the last of four brothers. President Kennedy and Sen. Kennedy were both assassinated during the turbulent 1960s, while eldest brother Joseph Jr. was killed in World War Two.
News of his illness has stunned Massachusetts residents.
"It was a shock to hear about it. I just feel so bad for him," said Joanne Green, 60, who was outside the hospital waiting for kidney surgery and a glimpse of the senator. "He's had such a hard life."
(Additional reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Jason Szep and Maggie Fox. Editing by David Wiessler)
