Kennedy's wife says senator is doing well
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, past the midway point in a six-week course of radiation and chemotherapy treatments for a malignant brain tumor, remains upbeat and has been sailing daily following his trips to Boston for treatment.
Each morning, after exercising at his Hyannis Port home, Kennedy is driven to Massachusetts General Hospital for his medical regimen. On the 90-minute drive home, he's been known to place calls on his cellphone to friends and colleagues, including Governor Deval Patrick.
Kennedy's wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, sent an optimistic e-mail to family and friends last week, saying the senator was enduring the treatments well.
"The news is really all positive and encouraging," she wrote. "My incredibly strong and resilient husband is handling the treatment very well. The only side effect is fatigue, and that word has never been in Teddy's vocabulary before. But he's learning to cope with it. As I have mentioned to many of you, he is tackling cancer with his trademark grit and determination, and he is doing everything he needs to do to regain his strength and health."
Following a seizure at his home on May 17, Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, which carries a grim prognosis. He underwent surgery at Duke University Medical Center on June 2, a procedure his doctors declared a success. After a week in Durham, N.C., the Massachusetts Democrat returned to his Cape Cod home and began the radiation and chemotherapy.
Kennedy's office has declined to discuss the specifics of his treatment, although doctors not involved with his care said the standard chemotherapy for brain tumors is a pill called temozolomide, which slows the growth and spread of cancer cells in the body. Radiation therapy, typically administered five days a week, would involve using a beam directed at the cancerous area.
Brain cancer specialists say doctors would monitor response to the pills and radiation, and, if that approach is not working, patients could choose to switch to more experimental treatments or join a clinical trial. Several people close to Kennedy have said the senator has been optimistic since undergoing surgery at Duke.
"He exercises every morning before we make our trek to Boston, and sails almost every afternoon when we get back to the Cape," the senator's wife wrote in the e-mail, which she sent Wednesday night and which was obtained yesterday by the Globe and the Associated Press. "I have drawn the line at sailing in thunderstorms, but other than that, he's out on the water just about every day. He's making calls, staying in touch with his office staff and colleagues, and still pushing all the issues he cares about."
The Globe reported recently that Kennedy has been increasingly active in healthcare advocacy. He got involved personally in helping Massachusetts seek a Medicaid waiver worth hundreds of millions of dollars, strategizing with the governor and placing phone calls to Bush administration officials. Kennedy's office has also been convening meetings to lay the groundwork for implementing universal healthcare after the next president takes office in January. Staff members for Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, have been participating in the talks.
The Kennedys celebrated their 16th wedding anniversary Thursday, but because they had to travel to Boston for treatment, they were not able to make their traditional sail from New York's Sag Harbor. "We'll save that for next year," Victoria Kennedy wrote.
Instead, they had plans for a day trip on Nantucket Sound and to have their children, grandchildren, and other family members join them for the Fourth of July.
"I thank you all for your many cards, letters, emails and calls of care and concern," she wrote.
Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com. 