http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24755896BOSTON - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy walked out of the hospital accompanied by family members on Wednesday, one day after being diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor that experts say is almost certainly fatal.
A square bandage at the back of his head marked the spot where doctors performed a biopsy Monday that led them to diagnose him with malignant glioma.
The 76-year-old senator, the last son in a famed political family, was diagnosed with a malignant glioma in his left parietal lobe — which helps govern sensation, movement and language — after suffering a seizure in his home Saturday morning. Malignant gliomas are diagnosed in about 9,000 Americans a year.
Recovery from biopsy
Doctors announced Kennedy "has recovered remarkably quickly" from the brain biopsy. They said he will recuperate at his home over the weekend while awaiting further test results that will help determine his treatment plan.
"He's feeling well and eager to get started," said Dr. Lee Schwamm, a top neurologist at Massachusetts General, and Dr. Larry Ronan, Kennedy's primary care physician.
In an e-mail Tuesday, Vicki Kennedy told friends the grim diagnosis was "a real curveball" that left the family stunned even as Kennedy joked and laughed with them. She expressed pride in how her husband was handling the news.
"Teddy is leading us all, as usual, with his calm approach to getting the best information possible," she wrote in an e-mail Tuesday to friends.
"He's also making me crazy (and making me laugh) by pushing to race in the Figawi this weekend," she wrote, referring to the annual sailing race from Cape Cod to Nantucket.
The diagnosis cast a pall over Capitol Hill, where the Massachusetts Democrat has served since 1962.
Topic: Kennedy leaves hospital after tumor diagnosis (Read 3546 times)