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Teresa Heinz Kerry Condition Upgraded To Fair

Doctors have upgraded the condition of Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and heir to a ketchup company fortune, from critical to fair after she was hospitalized Sunday while on Nantucket.

John Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry in 2008. (Michael Dwyer/AP)
John Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry in 2008. (Michael Dwyer/AP)

Heinz Kerry was flown to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on Sunday night after doctors at a hospital on Massachusetts' Nantucket Island stabilized her, said Glen Johnson, a spokesman for Kerry.

Johnson says Heinz Kerry, 74, will continue to undergo testing at MGH Monday.

"Secretary of State John Kerry, her son, and other family members remain with Mrs. Heinz Kerry at the hospital in Boston, as they have been since she became ill," Johnson's statement added. Neither the family nor hospital officials have released any more details about the nature of her medical emergency.

A family member, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about Heinz Kerry's condition, saw her exhibiting symptoms consistent with some sort of seizure, said a person in contact with the family.

Heinz Kerry previously said she found out in September 2009 that she had cancer in her left breast after having her annual mammogram. A month later, she underwent lumpectomies on both breasts at a Washington hospital after doctors also discovered what they thought was a benign growth on her right breast.

That diagnosis was initially confirmed in postoperative pathology, but two other doctors later found it to be malignant.

In November 2009, Heinz Kerry had another pair of lumpectomies performed at Massachusetts General Hospital.

On Sunday, shortly after 3:30 p.m., emergency officials on Nantucket got a call requesting medical aid at a home on Hulbert Avenue and dispatched an ambulance there, Nantucket Police Lt. Jerry Adams said. Online records show the property is connected to Heinz Kerry's family.

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom.

This article was originally published on July 08, 2013.

This program aired on July 8, 2013. The audio for this program is not available.

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