After his weekend seizure, Senator Ted Kennedy has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, according to the Associated Press, which quotes the senator’s doctors.
AP reports:
The usual course of treatment includes combinations of radiation and chemotherapy, but Kennedy’s treatment will be decided after more tests.
“He has had no further seizures, remains in good overall condition, and is up and walking around the hospital,” said a joint statement issued by Dr. Lee Schwamm, vice chairman of the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Dr. Larry Ronan, Kennedy’s primary care physician.
Kennedy’s wife and children have been with him each day since he was hospitalized but have made no public statements.
Malignant gliomas are a type of brain cancer diagnosed in about 9,000 Americans a year — and the most common type among adults. It’s a starting diagnosis: How well patients fare depends on what specific tumor type is determined by further testing.
Average survival can range from less than a year for very advanced and aggressive types — such as glioblastomas — or to about five years for different types that are slower growing.
Kennedy is 76. Anyone who’d like to send a goodwill message can do so on the senator’s official website.
He and his niece Caroline, JFK’s daughter, both endorsed Barack Obama in January.
Update: In response to the news, Obama called Kennedy a “beloved friend” and said “he deserves the kind of support he’s been giving others for so long.”
John McCain praised Kennedy saying, “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.”
President Bush and Hillary Clinton have also expressed support and good wishes.
6 comments
May 20, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Will Rhodes
I was just watching it on CNN, Ella – they say it’s one of the most virulent kinds but he is very up beat about it.
I wish him well!
May 20, 2008 at 4:27 pm
ellaella
Oh, Will, I’m just heartsick about this. How ironic that the man who has fought hardest and longest to make affordable health care available to all now requires the sort of catastrophic care he championed for everyone way back in 1970. And still, we wait.
He has done so much good for so many people.
May 21, 2008 at 5:01 pm
thebeadden
This is sad news, Ella.
May 21, 2008 at 7:18 pm
ellaella
It certainly is. The good news is he left the hospital today — walked out — to recuperate at Hyannis. Fingers are crossed.
May 22, 2008 at 9:36 am
bluesmokeofparadise
I was so sad to hear this.
The Kennedy’s have had such an influence on my family’s political perspective, most notably my mother, who called herself a Kennedy Democrat.
After I moved to Massachusetts, one of my great prides was living in Senator Kennedy’s state.
The Liberal Lion will no doubt go roaring into that good night, whenever it may be.
I look forward to hearing him bellow at the DNC this august, perhaps even introducing Barry’s historic speech given on the 45th anniversary of MLK’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
Thanks so much for posting a link to offer condolences. Very, very appreciated.
May 22, 2008 at 11:55 am
ellaella
Oh, blue, I got gooseflesh at the mere thought of him at the convention. Keynote, maybe? In any case, “bellow” is the perfect word for his speechifying style; he does it in a way his brothers never did.
I’m glad you stopped by — don’t be a stranger, k?