PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN Surgeon repairs Dem candidate's shoulder tendons

BOSTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry was recovering off the campaign trail today after minor shoulder surgery that his doctor described as free of complication.
The four-term Massachusetts senator underwent the 45-minute procedure Wednesday to repair tendons in his right shoulder and bicep. Dr. Bertram Zarins, chief of sports medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, said Kerry would be in pain for a few days and probably need an ice pack and narcotic painkillers.
Kerry had no public schedule for the rest of the week.
Zarins said the presumed Democratic nominee was smiling and talking shortly after coming out of surgery.
"He joked a little bit and said, 'I hope I didn't reveal any state secrets,'" Zarins told reporters in a conference call.
The doctor also said Kerry would have to forgo temporarily the most time-honored tradition in politics: shaking hands.
Kerry, 60, tore the subscapularis tendon, one of the tendons that make up the rotator cuff, in January. He wrenched his right shoulder while bracing himself during an abrupt stop on his campaign bus in Iowa.
Kerry was under general anesthesia for the surgery. Zarins said he made an incision about an inch and a half long, found a small tear in the bicep tendon next to the subscapularis and then made a second, smaller incision and repaired both.
What's ahead
Zarins, who also treats the New England Patriots, the New England Revolution and the Boston Bruins sports teams, said he would evaluate Kerry over the next few days and remove the stitches -- he wasn't sure how many it took to close the incisions -- in a week to 10 days.
Zarins said he wouldn't restrict Kerry's activity, but that pain would limit his right arm motion. He said Kerry's rehabilitation would probably just involve having him leaning over and swinging his arm like pendulum. Kerry could gradually reintroduce movements until a complete recovery, with "heavy use" in several months, Zarins said.
"I think he'll be shaking hands fairly quickly," said Zarins. "We're not going to tell him not to do it."
Kerry's shoulder did not keep him from a weeklong ski and snowboarding vacation recently or from occasionally throwing a football or baseball with staff between campaign stops. Kerry said that type of arm movement didn't bother him, but that his shoulder would hurt with other movements.
He demonstrated the painful action for reporters by moving his arms as if he were grasping for a bear hug. He also said it hurt "a couple of times lifting babies."
The surgical procedure is Kerry's third since early last year. He had a cancerous prostate removed in February 2003, followed a month later by minor outpatient surgery to remove a wart from his eyelid.