SMITHFIELD — Sen. Edward Kennedy enjoyed the Father’s Day weekend surrounded by family at his home and preparing to “do battle,” undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments for his brain cancer two weeks after surgery in North Carolina, said his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy.

The Rhode Island congressman said his father had been comforted by the company of friends and family, but that his visitors were aware he needed moments of quiet and breaks from entertaining as he fights the cancerous brain tumor.

“Everyone wants to be with him. But we also need to give him space and time to recover, where he doesn’t have to be ‘on,’  ” he said. “He’s been through a lot. We want him to be strong for when he needs to do battle.”

The Massachusetts Democrat returned to his home at Hyannis Port, Mass., on June 9, a week after undergoing aggressive surgery for the malignant glioma at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. He will undergo further treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he was diagnosed with the lethal tumor last month.

The younger Kennedy spoke late Saturday at a gala for the Diabetes Foundation of Rhode Island, where he received an award for his support of the group and diabetes issues.

He would not say when the radiation and chemotherapy treatments would begin, but said his father was considering a pill form of chemotherapy that would allow him to stay home for treatment. Radiation treatments would take about 15 minutes each, he said.

Edward Kennedy attended Mass at his Cape Cod home on Saturday with his sister, Eunice Shriver, Patrick Kennedy said. He also has been sailing in recent days with his son and with his niece, Maria Shriver, wife of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Other visitors to the Kennedy home have included Conn. Sen. Chris Dodd, as well as buddies from his days at Harvard University and the University of Virginia Law School, Patrick Kennedy said.