Sen. Kennedy suffers a seizure

WASHINGTON — Sen. Edward Kennedy, the lone surviving son in a famed political family, was airlifted Saturday from Hyannis, Mass., to Boston, where he was hospitalized after apparently suffering a seizure.

A family spokeswoman said Saturday evening that Kennedy, 76, was "conscious, talking and joking with family," who had gathered at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Kennedy did not have a stroke, as was first feared, and doctors said he is not in any immediate danger.

"He's resting comfortably and watching the Red Sox game with his family," said Dr. Larry Ronan, his primary-care physician.

Several other Kennedy associates said they were told the senator would recover, but he was scheduled to undergo a series of tests to determine what caused the seizure.

On Saturday morning, Kennedy felt ill at his Hyannis Port home and was taken to Cape Cod Hospital in nearby Hyannis. After a discussion with his doctors in Boston, the senator was flown by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was soon joined by his wife, Victoria, his three children and niece Caroline Kennedy.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he spoke to Kennedy's wife and was told "his condition is not life-threatening, but serious."

Kennedy had surgery at the same Boston hospital in October to remove a blockage in his left carotid artery, in part to prevent a stroke, which can be caused by the interruption of the flow of blood to the brain.

The blockage was found as doctors were examining his back and neck, which were severely injured in an airplane crash in 1964. After the surgery, doctors recommended that he take aspirin to prevent blood clots. He was already on medication to control blood pressure and cholesterol.

For a time Saturday, Kennedy was sedated and resting. Later, he was talking and joking with family members, according to Stephanie Cutter, a Kennedy spokeswoman.

Several friends and relatives expressed optimism at the senator's condition — and prospects for recovery — but they declined interview requests, as did Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who visited Kennedy at the hospital.

Kennedy's medical scare underscored the fragile nature of the Democrats' hold on the upper chamber of Congress, with just a 51-vote majority. Two other Democratic senators have faced health challenges recently: Sen. Robert Byrd, of West Virginia, was recently hospitalized after an allergic reaction to an antibiotic; and Sen. Tim Johnson, of South Dakota, was absent for a year after a brain hemorrhage.

The statement from Kennedy's office called the episode a seizure. First-time seizures in someone Kennedy's age can have many causes, including stroke, bleeding in the brain, tumors, alcohol withdrawal and severe derangements of bloodstream chemicals. Such seizures are not rare.

In addition to standard tests such as a physical and mental-status examination, blood sugar and electrocardiograms, doctors often perform CT scans and other images of the brain and other organs for such patients.

The second-most senior member of the Senate (Byrd is the senior), Kennedy has served since 1962, when he won the seat that had been held by his older brother, John F. Kennedy. He has evolved into his party's leading voice — and conscience — on legislation concerning civil rights, health care, education and labor.

In 1980, Sen. Kennedy mounted a serious presidential primary challenge to Jimmy Carter, but the effort fell short and Kennedy has not sought the presidency since, content to amass years and achievements in the Senate.

Kennedy, who lives in Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts, was on Cape Cod to be a host for the annual Best Buddies Challenge, a fundraiser in Hyannis Port, on Saturday. Best Buddies is a charity that assists people with mental disabilities.

Friday, he attended a ribbon cutting at the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park.

Material from the Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press is included in this report.