Kennedy upbeat day after seizure

Receives calls from Senate colleagues

When Barack Obama picked up the phone to speak with Edward M. Kennedy yesterday, he expected his Senate colleague would be groggy from medication following a seizure Saturday.

But Kennedy, 76, who remains in the hospital, surprised him with his vigor and sense of humor, Obama said in a telephone interview yesterday while campaigning in Portland, Ore.

"He sounded great," Obama recounted. "He sounded like the Ted Kennedy we know and love. He joked a little bit about [how] this happens when you get an old politician going out there on the road."

Kennedy spent yesterday watching baseball and movies from his hospital room, as doctors tried to determine what caused the seizure that prompted national concern over the political icon's health.

That meant another day of anxious waiting for Kennedy's family and friends, along with a public that has closely followed the family's political and personal narrative for generations.

Kennedy's doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital has said it would be until at least today before tests would offer greater insight into the senator's health. Kennedy's inner circle would not commit to a timeline for making those results public. It is uncertain when Kennedy will be able to resume his busy political schedule.

Family members continued to stay close to Kennedy yesterday as he fielded calls from friends and fellow political leaders, including Democratic senators Charles Schumer of New York and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, according to Kennedy spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. Kennedy has been a key supporter of Obama's presidential campaign.

Obama said he does not want Kennedy rushing back to the campaign trail and expects the senator's wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, to enforce doctors' orders, once his course of care is established. "All of us believe that he probably needs to rest up," Obama said.

"Obviously, we were all very worried yesterday," Obama said.

"I had spoken to Vickie, and she had indicated that the initial prognosis was better than what may have been reported in the press."

After watching the Red Sox game yesterday, Kennedy planned to view a few rented movies to pass the time: "The Great Debaters, "Best in Show," and some old Fred Astaire movies, Cutter said.

Kennedy's wife, along with some of his children, step-children, and other relatives, stayed by his side. Members of the news media continued to stake out the hospital in hopes of learning more details about Kennedy's health.

Cutter said Kennedy had a good night sleep Saturday night, following a chaotic day that started at his family's compound at Hyannis Port.

Kennedy was flown from Cape Cod after suffering what was first feared to be a stroke, but doctors later determined to be a seizure. Seizures - short electrical disturbances in the brain - rarely cause brain damage or other long-term problems but they can be indicators of more significant health problems. Possible causes include fever, infection, stroke, a tumor, or a previous head injury.

Kennedy's personal physician, Dr. Larry Ronan, said Saturday that further tests would seek to clarify a cause and a course of treatment, but that preliminary tests have determined "he has not suffered a stroke and is not in any immediate danger."

In October, Kennedy was admitted to Mass. General for surgery to clear a neck artery that was partially blocked by plaque. Doctors said at the time that the surgery, intended to prevent a stroke, was routine and successful.