Upbeat Kennedy leaves Boston hospital
BOSTON, Massachusetts (AFP) — Veteran US Senator Edward Kennedy left hospital Wednesday giving a thumbs up to waiting supporters a day after doctors announced he had a malignant brain tumor.
The 76-year-old Democratic liberal lion was released ahead of schedule from the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston where he was admitted on Saturday after suffering a seizure at the Kennedy family compound in northeastern Hyannis.
The diagnosis that the Democratic patriarch, the last surviving brother of assassinated president John F. Kennedy, had a malignant brain tumor had sent shockwaves through Congress, where he has been a dominant figure for nearly half a century.
But on Wednesday the hospital said the scion of the country's foremost political dynasty had "recovered remarkably quickly from his Monday procedure and therefore will be released from the hospital today ahead of schedule.
"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," the hospital statement added.
His wife Vicki told the Kennedy clan in an email that her husband had been eager to check out so he could get organized for a big weekend sailing regatta.
"Teddy is leading us all, as usual, with his calm approach to getting the best information possible.
"He's also making me crazy (and making me laugh) by pushing to race in the Figawi this weekend," she wrote in the email, which was read to AFP.
Kennedy, sailing in his schooner Mya, has been a keen competitor in the race from Hyannis to the island of Nantucket, about 30 miles south across the Nantucket Sound, for most of its 30-year history.
As he walked out of the hospital, embracing family and friends and waving to applauding supporters before getting into a waiting car, the senator looked remarkably fit.
Doctors have not publicly offered a prognosis for Kennedy. But the US National Cancer Institute says the outlook is poor, with average life expectancy depending on the stage of the tumor, from a few months to up to five years.
Kennedy, who exerts heavy influence within his party and in Congress, is a fierce critic of President George W. Bush and a supporter of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
An unapologetic liberal and an orator who recalls a bygone era of stemwinding political rhetoric, he is a champion of causes such as health care, education, workers rights and immigration reform.
He has however reached out to work with Republicans and Bush said Wednesday: "All of us are so pleased that Senator Kennedy has gone home, and our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family."
Kennedy, whose eighth term in the Senate expires in 2012, was once the heir apparent of his political dynasty, and apparently destined for the White House.
But his career was rocked by the death of a young woman, Mary Joe Kopechne, in his car late one night in 1969 after he drove it off a bridge near Chappaquiddick island off the US east coast.
He did run for president in 1980 against incumbent Jimmy Carter. Kennedy lost the Democratic nomination but managed to harm the sitting US president's re-election hopes. Carter lost the general election to Ronald Reagan.
Kennedy's latest health scare came six months after he had surgery to clear a blockage in a major neck artery, a common procedure to prevent a stroke.
John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in 1963, and brother Robert Kennedy was shot dead while campaigning for the presidency in 1968.
His eldest brother Joseph died in a plane crash during World War II.
