After undergoing a risky brain surgery on Monday at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., in order to reduce the brain tumor’s size and to begin chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Senator Edward Kennedy appears to recover very well.

Moreover, immediately after the three hour and a half surgery he told his wife, Vicki, he was feeling “like a million bucks,” family representative, Stephanie Cutter said, as quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle. “I Think I’ll do that again tomorrow,” Kennedy added smiling.

His surgeon, Dr. Allan Friedman, known as the best neurosurgeon from Duke and not only, said the surgery went smoothly and the patient will begin targeted radiation at Massachusetts General Hospital and chemotherapy treatment after a brief recuperation. “I hope that everyone will join in praying for Sen. Kennedy to have an uneventful and robust recovery,” Dr. Friedman added.

The after surgery-treatment is meant to take care of the rest of the tumor, as not all of it could be removed due to its location.

The last surviving brother in the legendary Kennedy family suffered a seizure last month and, after running some tests at the Massachusetts General Hospital, he was diagnosed with malignant glioma located in the left parietal lobe of the brain, which is responsible for speech, comprehension and visual skills.

This type of tumor is often fatal. About 9,000 Americans are diagnosed with gliomas yearly, according to the National Cancer Institute. About half of the people diagnosed with the deadliest of the gliomas die within 15 months, but new drugs appear to improve survival rates. Researchers say some patients live more than four years.

“Every patient is different. We have a bunch of new treatments that are looking pretty good,” said Matthew Ewend, chief of neurosurgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, referring to Kennedy’s chances of surviving.