Senator Kennedy in surgery.

The 75 year old senator from Massachusetts went under the knife today to repair a partially blocked artery in his neck. This blockage was discovered during a routine examination of a 43 year old back injury Kennedy has harbored since 1964. This injury was acquired durng a plane crash, in which the pilot and one of the senators aides both died. Senator Kennedy left that accident with his back injury, as well as a few broken ribs, a punctured lung, and internal bleeding.
This operation, medically known as a cartoid endarterectomy, was performed at Mass General Hospital today and was said to have gone sucessfully. Dr. Richard Cambria, the Mass. General cheif of vascular surgery, performed the operation, and it is usually performed on 180,00 people a year to avoid a stroke. The doctor told was reported by the New York Times as saying that this procedure is reserved only for those with more than 70% blockage, and that Kennedy had "very high grade blockage".

Kennedy has been a senator since 1962 and this recent health issue begs the question; how long is too long for so many public officials to stay in office? However, this is the senator's only health problem, and it was reported that he should be back on his feet after a few days of rest. Well one thing is for sure, this surgery should guarantee old Teddy some of his favorite candy.