Ted Kennedy has brain tumor

[shepgirl]

I always thought highly of the Kennedy's and their zest for life. They did have their downside but everybody does. I believe in moving forward and not looking back. I think they all had a special way in which they lived life to the fullest. All of them were very strong in mind and body and Ted Kennedy has longevity on his side. Many people don't even get to his age and don't have brain tumors. If it's meant to be he will live many more yrs, if not he will live the remainder of his years to the fullest.
Fifteen yrs ago I was given 6 mos to a year to live, well, here I am and it proves God has the last say, not doctors.

[moosmom]

God has the last say, not doctors.

Right on Shepgirl!!! My daughter is living proof.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

They say he was awake for most of the operation. The cancer would never have had a chance to kill me, I'd have been so scared, I would have died of fright.

[Medusa]

They say he was awake for most of the operation. The cancer would never have had a chance to kill me, I'd have been so scared, I would have died of fright.

From what I understand and saw on TV, there's no pain and he would be able to even converse w/the doctors while the surgery was in progress. Surgery certainly has come a long way, hasn't it? When I had my brain surgery in the Dark Ages (1951 LOL), they drilled a hole in the base of my skull and bled me, much like medieval times, w/the hope that pressure on my brain would be relieved. Instead, it paralyzed the left side of my body. (I've since recovered, thankfully.) Ted Kennedy made the brave and right decision to have this surgery. Who knows how long it may have extended his life. I know what you mean, though. It's scary to think that the doctors are in there, gettin' busy w/my brain, while I'm wide awake!

[Grace]

He was asleep while they were getting down into his brain. Once they got past the dura, the brain does not feel pain.

They wanted him awake so they would know if they were going too far with the resection. The left parietal lobe controls speech and his right sided movement. They certainly didn't want him to wake up unable to move or communicate!

Once they finished with the resection, he was put under once again.

His head was also immobilized, so he couldn't move it by accident.

[Catty1]

http://cfcn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...ospital_080609

Kennedy returns to Cape Cod after surgery

The Associated Press

Mon. June. 9 2008 9:51 PM ET

BOSTON — Fresh from his hospitalization for an aggressive surgery on a cancerous brain tumour, Senator Edward M. Kennedy announced it was "good to be home'' at his family's Cape Cod compound Monday and headed out for a sail.

Kennedy left the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., on Monday morning and arrived at his family's Hyannis Port compound just before noon. With his thick white hair visible beneath a beige, wide-brimmed hat, he told reporters he felt "good to be home, good to be here.''

Within hours, he went out sailing with his wife, Vicki. It was the same homecoming routine he followed last month when he was released from a Boston hospital after being diagnosed with a malignant glioma, a lethal type of brain tumour. A malignant glioma is one of the worst kinds of brain cancer, and malignant gliomas are diagnosed in about 9,000 Americans a year.

"His doctors are pleased with his progress since surgery a week ago, and he will continue to recuperate at home before starting the next phase of his treatment,'' Kennedy's office said in a statement. "He is thankful for the extraordinary care of the doctors and nurses at Duke, and also for the continued prayers and well wishes from the people of Massachusetts and all over the country.''

Kennedy, 76, underwent the risky, 3 1/2-hour surgery last Monday to remove as much of the tumour as possible, a procedure aimed at improving the success of chemotherapy and radiation. His surgeon at Duke, Dr. Allan Friedman, said Monday that Kennedy "is making an excellent recovery.''

"He will continue his recuperation at home in Massachusetts under the supervision of the very capable doctors at the Massachusetts General Hospital,'' Friedman said in a statement.

Kennedy's son, Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), said he planned to have dinner with his father Monday night.

"My dad's doing great,'' the younger Kennedy said Monday after an appearance at Brown University. "He's benefited enormously from the surgery he received and he's on his way home, and we're so fortunate that, you know, he's going back to the place that he loves. ... Always makes him feel great being near the ocean.''

Patrick Kennedy told the Providence Journal on Sunday his father was looking forward to returning to the Senate and working with Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama on universal health care legislation should the Illinois senator win the White House.

"That is what he is talking and thinking about,'' Kennedy said. "It adds a great deal of poignancy to his recovery. But that's how he sees it -- he has to recover so he can get health care for the millions of people who don't have access to the care that we do.''

Kennedy told the newspaper that his father wants to begin writing the legislation this year so it would be ready if Obama was victorious.

Kennedy's family and doctors have released few details about the particular type of tumour, which plays a key role in determining his survival odds. Some cancer specialists have said Kennedy appears to have a glioblastoma multiforme -- a serious and tough-to-remove type of tumour -- because other kinds are more common in younger people.

Doctors familiar with the type of surgery have said it almost never leads to a cure, but radiation or chemotherapy treatments have a better chance of success because there's less tumour to fight.

"The senator and his wife Vicki are wonderful people, and I hope you will join me in wishing them the best as they continue their difficult journey to fight this disease,'' Friedman said. "Their courageous and positive attitude is a lesson for us all.''

[Karen]

I always "argue" with medical people that I will get better faster at home, so I am glad, for his sake, that he was allowed to go home.

I spent 5 days in the hospital for my brain surgery, and was QUITE ready to leave when the time came.