Ted Kennedy recovering from Life Brain Tumour

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has left his Boston hospital this morning to applause from onlookers and is heading home to Cape Cod ahead of schedule to begin his quest to recover from a cancerous brain tumor.

Kennedy waved and gave a thumbs up outside Massachusetts General Hospital shortly after 10 a.m. Two of the family dogs, Portuguese water dogs, were waiting in Kennedy’s Chevy Suburban and jumped out -- tails wagging -- to welcome back the 76-year-old senator.

In a release handed to the Herald earlier this morning, Kennedy’s two physicians said the Bay State’s senior senator has staged a remarkable recovery, so far, and is being allowed to go home to Hyannis Port.

"Senator Kennedy has recovered remarkably quickly from his Monday procedure and therefore will be released form the hospital today ahead of schedule. He will return to his home on Cape Cod while we await further test results and determine treatment plans. He’s feeling well and eager to get started," said his doctors, Dr. Lee Schwamm and Dr. Larry Ronan, in a release.

The doctors say Kennedy will await further test results and treatment options while convalescing at his famed family Cape compound over the Memorial Day weekend.

Kennedy has been treated at Massachusetts General for what doctors now say is a malignant glioma in his left parietal lobe. Malignant gliomas are diagnosed in about 9,000 Americans a year; in general, half of all patients die within a year.

Kennedy’s wife Vicki and his son Patrick were both seen entering the hospital this morning, with Patrick coming in just in time for his father’s morning release. Both were at his side as he left the hospital today. His niece Caroline Kennedy and daughter Kara were also along for the ride back to Cape Cod.

Vicki Kennedy told friends the grim diagnosis was "a real curveball" that left his family stunned even as he joked and laughed with them, but 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 yesterday 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.

Ted Kennedy is the last surviving brother of his famed family.