Lautenberg released from the hospital

New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) was released from the hospital late Thursday, more than a week after he was diagnosed with a curable form of stomach cancer.

According to Lautenberg's office, the senator, 86, "is extremely grateful for the outpouring of support from New Jerseyans all across the state and is anxious to get back to work."

He "feels good and his doctors are encouraged by the progress he is making," the statement continued.

The New Jersey lawmaker was hospitalized earlier this month after falling at his home. But doctors later discovered Lautenberg's stomach had ulcerated, a symptom of a curable form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Lautenberg quickly began chemotherapy treatments, the first of which kept him from joining his Democratic colleagues in the Senate in support of their recently passed jobs bill. 

Nevertheless, the senator is expected to make a full recovery and return to work soon.