BOSTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Recovering alcoholic Joan Kennedy underwent a lumpectomy Tuesday in her latest battle -- breast cancer, The Boston Herald reported.
Kennedy, 68, the ex-wife of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., underwent the procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital to remove the cancerous tumor found in a recent mammogram.
"The children are there with her by her side while she's going through this," a longtime friend told the newspaper.
In June, Kennedy and her children -- Kara Kennedy Allen, Edward M. Kennedy and U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., settled their public dispute about her ability to care for herself and manage her affairs. Kennedy was found intoxicated and hurt on a Boston sidewalk in March.
A longtime friend credited the cancer's early detection to that June agreement, which requires Kennedy to be under 24-hour supervision by a nurse. Kennedy is expected to undergo radiation therapy, a source told the newspaper.
