Kennedy upbeat at midpoint of cancer treatments

July 7, 2008 03:18 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, reaching the midway point in a six-week course of radiation and chemotherapy treatment for a malignant brain tumor, remains upbeat and has been sailing daily after his trips to Boston for treatment.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy

“The news is really all positive and encouraging,” Kennedy’s wife, Victoria, wrote in an e-mail to family and friends. “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.”

After a seizure on May 17, Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. He underwent surgery at Duke University Medical Center on June 2, a procedure that his doctors declared a success. After a week in Durham, N.C., the Massachusetts Democrat returned to his Cape Cod home and began radiation and chemotherapy treatment.

"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 out Wednesday and was obtained today 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 made calls to federal officials to help Massachusetts seek a Medicaid waiver worth hundreds of millions of dollars. His staff has also been convening meetings to pave a course for implementing universal healthcare, should Senator Barack Obama win the presidency.

Kennedy and his wife celebrated their wedding anniversary Thursday. They were unable to make their annual sail to Sag Harbor, but instead made plans for a day trip on Nantucket Sound, and to have children and grandchildren around for the Fourth of July.

”I thank you all for your many cards, letters, e-mails and calls of care and concern,” Vicki Kennedy wrote in her note, titled “EMK Update.” “We are blessed to have you in our lives. As Teddy says, this disease is a bear. But hey, my guy's a lion. I'm betting on the lion.”