Sen. Mark Kirk has been upgraded to good condition and was able to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday night, said Dr. Richard Fessler, who operated on Kirk after a stroke last month.
Fessler anticipated that Kirk, who is in Northwestern Memorial Hospital, will be able to start rehabilitation soon.
“We are very pleased with his continued improvement,” Fessler said in an email.
The 52-year-old first-term Republican U.S. senator underwent surgery at Northwestern that removed part of his skull to relieve pressure caused by swelling on the right side of his brain, Fessler said earlier.
Doctors have given Kirk a relatively encouraging prognosis, even as he has undergone multiple surgeries to minimize damage from brain swelling that followed the stroke. Doctors say they expect the senator to regain his mental faculties, but he could suffer some lasting paralysis on the left side of his body.
His recovery, they say, likely will be a long one.
