Kerry resting after shoulder surgery
Democrat to recuperate at Boston home
BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry was reported awake and lucid after undergoing surgery Wednesday to repair tears in a tendon and muscle in his right shoulder.
The surgeon who performed the 45-minute procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Bertram Zarins, said Kerry, the all-but-crowned Democratic presidential nominee, suffered no complications. He left the hospital late Wednesday afternoon to return to his Boston home to recuperate for the next several days.
Zarins said that when Kerry awoke from general anesthesia after the surgery, he joked, "I hope I didn't reveal any state secrets." Kerry is a four-term U.S. senator from Massachusetts.
Kerry, 60, injured his shoulder in January during the primary campaign in Iowa, when he caught himself as his bus stopped suddenly. The incident aggravated an earlier injury from a 1992 bicycle accident.
Zarins said he repaired a tear in Kerry's subscapularis muscle, as well as a small tear in an adjoining bicep tendon. He said the senator should be able to start shaking hands again "soon."
In February 2003, shortly after announcing his White House bid, Kerry underwent surgery for removal of a cancerous prostate. Stressing his full recovery, Kerry often strikes a vigorous pose on the campaign trail, playing ice hockey, bicycling and skiing during photo sessions with the media.
Kerry has no public events scheduled for the next few days. His campaign said he will be resting and working from his home.
CNN's Mike Roselli contributed to this report.
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