Senator leaves hospital bed to take oath of office

In his first trip outside the hospital in 25 days, ailing state Senator Charles E. Shannon Jr. took his oath of office yesterday in a private ceremony in the governor's office.

Shannon, a 61-year-old Winchester Democrat, was diagnosed with leukemia in October and underwent seven days of chemotherapy last month at Massachusetts General Hospital. He said his doctors have told him he is in remission, though he must wear a mask to guard against infection because of his weakened immune system.

Yesterday Shannon wore a surgical mask most of the time, prompting Governor Mitt Romney to confirm that the official witness, Senate clerk William F. Welch, could identify the longtime legislator.

''He can do this with the mask on?" Romney asked before administering the oath. ''You can recognize him?"

Welch confirmed that it was indeed Shannon.

Shannon was the first legislator sworn in yesterday. About 10 people attended, including Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, who was treated for thyroid cancer in 2002.

Romney had pledged to administer the oath at Shannon's bedside, but on Monday Shannon's staff said he was healthy enough to attend the State House ceremony.

''I have the energy to get up, get dressed, and feel like a human being," he said yesterday.

This is Shannon's third battle with cancer. He survived a form of bone cancer called multiple myeloma in 1990 and 2002.

Because of chemotherapy, he has lost all his hair, but yesterday the former Lexington police officer walked into the State House unassisted. He arrived around 9:30 a.m., after an aide drove him and his family in his 2002 Crown Victoria.

The chemotherapy has greatly weakened Shannon's immune system, and doctors have ordered strict conditions to reduce his exposure to illness.

Shannon's staff had asked State Police to guard against crowds in the State House hallway, and when Shannon entered through a rear door beside the archway, he walked directly into a waiting elevator. He removed the mask before photographers captured the swearing in.

''Until a week ago, we thought he'd be sworn in at the hospital," said Sean Fitzgerald, Shannon's chief of staff.

Shannon did not visit his fifth-floor office, returning quickly to the hospital after the ceremony.

But Fitzgerald said the illness has only slightly disturbed Shannon's work schedule. The senator has a laptop with Internet access in the hospital, a cellphone, and daily briefings. He filed 53 legislative bills before he was hospitalized Dec. 12.

Shannon is expected to remain in the hospital until next week, when he hopes to return to Winchester for up to four weeks of home recovery. He will require an additional week of treatment at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and could return to the Legislature by March, Fitzgerald said.

''It was huge for all of us to see him walk out of the hospital," his son, Charles E. Shannon III, 34, said yesterday. ''I never doubted my father would make it through this."

Shannon was first elected in 1990, and he was reelected in November in an uncontested race. Recently, he lobbied Romney to win state funding for the renovation of Dilboy Field, a run-down football stadium in Somerville that Romney announced in September would get an $8 million face-lift.

In his office yesterday, Romney said jokingly he would name the field after Shannon.

''Charlie, we need 20 more years of you in this building," he said.

Benjamin Gedan can be reached at gedan@globe.com.