Ted Kennedy Faces Surgery Today

In the last two weeks, Sen. Edward Kennedy has been consulting with his family, doctors and advisers and preparing a strategy to deal with his recently discovered malignant brain tumor.

Kennedy will undergo surgery today at Duke University Medical Center. The operation is to start around 9 a.m. Eastern time and is expected to last about six hours.

It's hard to believe that it's been almost 40 years to the day since Kennedy reminded a grief-stricken nation that his recently assassinated brother Bobby dreamed of "things that never were -- and (said), 'Why not?'"

It's ironic, too, because, 40 years ago, survivng the kind of tumor with which Kennedy has been afflicted was merely a dream for nearly everyone who was diagnosed with it.

But today, about half of the people who are diagnosed with Kennedy's kind of brain tumor are able to live more than a year after their diagnosis.

The odds aren't great. But they're better than they were.

It still helps if you have the kind of resources Kennedy has.