Sen. Edward Kennedy has cancerous brain tumor
Pastor Dale Morgan
Sen. Edward Kennedy has cancerous brain tumor*
By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer Tue May 20, 6:54 PM ET
BOSTON - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was diagnosed with a cancerous brain
tumor Tuesday in what could be the grim final chapter in a life marked
by exhilarating triumph and shattering tragedy. Some experts gave the
liberal lion less than a year to live.
Doctors discovered the tumor after the 76-year-old senator and sole
surviving son of America's most storied political family suffered a
seizure over the weekend. The diagnosis cast a pall over Capitol Hill,
where the Massachusetts Democrat has served since 1962, and came as a
shock to a family all too accustomed to sudden, calamitous news.
"Ted Kennedy and the Kennedy family have faced adversity more times in
more instances with more courage and more determination and more grace
than most families have to," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. "Every one of
us knows what a big heart this fellow has. He's helped millions and
millions of people — from the biggest of legislation on the floor to the
most personal."
Kerry added: "This guy is one unbelievable fighter."
Kennedy's doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital said he had a
malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe, a region of the brain that
helps govern sensation, movement and language.
Seizures can be caused by a wide variety of things, some of them
relatively minor. The finding of a brain tumor — and specifically a
glioma, an especially lethal type — was about the worst possible news.
Kennedy's doctors said he will remain in the hospital for the next
couple of days as they consider chemotherapy and radiation. They did not
mention surgery, a possible indication the tumor is inoperable.
Outside experts gave him no more than three years — and perhaps far less.
"As a general rule, at 76, without the ability to do a surgical
resection, as kind of a ballpark figure you're probably looking at a
survival of less than a year," said Dr. Keith Black, chairman of
neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
In a statement, Dr. Lee Schwamm, vice chairman of neurology at
Massachusetts General, and Dr. Larry Ronan, Kennedy's primary physician,
said the senator "has had no further seizures, remains in good overall
condition, and is up and walking around the hospital."
"He remains in good spirits and full of energy," the physicians said.
An Associated Press photographer who was given access to the senator on
Tuesday captured Kennedy, dressed in a gray sweater and dark slacks,
joking and laughing with family members as he sat at a table in a family
room at the hospital.
Kennedy's wife since 1992, Vicki, and his five children and stepchildren
have been at his bedside.
"Obviously it's tough news for any son to hear," said Robin Costello, a
spokeswoman for one of Kennedy's sons, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I.
"He's comforted by the fact that his dad is such a fighter, and if
anyone can get through something as challenging as this, it would be his
father."
Kennedy, the Senate's second-longest serving member, was re-elected in
2006 and is not up for election again until 2012. Were he to resign or
die in office, state law requires a special election for the seat 145 to
160 days afterward.
Among the potential Democratic candidates: Martha Coakley, the state's
attorney general; Rep. Edward J. Markey; former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy
II, Kennedy's nephew; and Kennedy's wife. The Republican contenders
could include former Gov. Mitt Romney or former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey.
Kennedy has left his stamp on a raft of health care, pension and
immigration legislation during four decades in the Senate.
Senators of both parties heard about Kennedy's condition during their
weekly, closed-door policy lunches, and some looked drawn or misty-eyed.
Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., the longest-serving member of the Senate,
wept as he prayed for "my dear, dear friend, dear friend, Ted Kennedy"
during a speech on the Senate floor.
"Keep Ted here for us and for America," said the 90-year-old Byrd, who
is in a wheelchair. He added: "Ted, Ted, Ted. My dear friend. I love you
and miss you."
"I'm really sad. He's the one politician who brings tears to my eyes
when he speaks," said former Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., who happened to be
in the Capitol.
In a statement, President Bush saluted Kennedy as "a man of tremendous
courage, remarkable strength and powerful spirit." He added: "We join
our fellow Americans in praying for his full recovery."
Malignant gliomas are diagnosed in about 9,000 Americans a year. In
general, half of all patients die within a year.
"It's treatable but not curable. You can put it into remission for a
while but it's not a curable tumor," said Dr. Suriya Jeyapalan, a
neuroncologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
The Kennedy family has been struck by tragedy over and over. Kennedy's
eldest brother, Joseph, died in a World War II plane crash; President
John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963; and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was
assassinated in 1968. The tragedies thrust "Uncle Teddy" into the role
of surrogate parent to his brothers' children. He walked Caroline
Kennedy down the aisle.
A high point in his life came in 1980, when Kennedy challenged Jimmy
Carter for the Democratic presidential nomination. He eventually bowed
out with a stirring speech in which he declared, "The cause endures, the
hope still lives and the dream shall never die." His eulogy for his
brother Robert was equally stirring.
The low point was 1969, when Kennedy drove a car off a bridge on
Chappaquiddick Island on Martha's Vineyard. The accident killed aide
Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy at the time was married to his first wife,
Joan, whom he later divorced. His failure to promptly report the
accident, and questions about his relationship with the young woman, may
well have cost him the presidency.
Kennedy has been active for his age, maintaining an aggressive schedule
on Capitol Hill and across Massachusetts. He has made several campaign
appearances for Sen. Barack Obama.
"He fights for what he thinks is right. And we want to make sure that
he's fighting this illness," Obama said Tuesday. "And it's our job now
to support him in the way that he has supported us for so many years."
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said: "Ted Kennedy's courage and resolve are
unmatched, and they have made him one of the greatest legislators in
Senate history. Our thoughts are with him and Vicki and we are praying
for a quick and full recovery."
Last summer, Kennedy announced a deal with a publisher to write a
memoir, scheduled to come out in 2010.
___
Associated Press Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report from
Washington.