Sen. Kennedy undergoing surgery for brain tumor

[Wretched Excess]

Sen. Kennedy undergoing surgery for brain tumor

DURHAM, N.C. -- Senator Edward M. Kennedy is undergoing surgery for his malignant brain tumor at Duke University this morning, his office announced today.

The surgery was to begin about 9 a.m. and was expected to last approximately six hours.

In a statement released shortly before 6:30 a.m., Kennedy said he would be operated on by Dr. Allan Friedman at the Duke University Medical Center and expects to recuperate there for about a week.

In the weeks and months after the surgery, Kennedy will begin a regimen of radiation and chemotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, according to the statement.

Kennedy sailed in Hyannis Port Sunday morning, then flew to North Carolina with his wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, Sunday afternoon. He was admitted to the hospital after his arrival.

The surgery follows a meeting at Massachusetts General Hospital on Friday, during which cancer experts from around the country discussed his course of treatment. At that meeting, Kennedy's own doctors were joined by doctors from the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, as well as Friedman himself, according to a Kennedy intimate. At the end of the meeting, there was near unanimous agreement that he would have surgery at Duke, the confidant said.

The surgery comes as something of a surprise because, after the initial diagnosis was made nearly two weeks ago, Kennedy's doctors did not mention surgery as a treatment option. Rather, they limited their focus to radiation and chemotherapy, and later, Kennedy associates hinted that he would seek experimental drug treatments.

More

[Wretched Excess]

the surgery was apparently successful, but what caught my attention is that he was awake during the procedure.

thanks, but if someone is going to saw through my skull, I want to be as unconscious as possible.  I want the whole freaking anesthesia cabinet thrown at me.

[Chris_]

the surgery was apparently successful, but what caught my attention is that he was awake during the procedure.

thanks, but if you saw through my skull, I want to be as unconscious as possible.  I want the whole freaking anesthesia cabinet thrown at me.

There is a big difference between kennedy conscious and the rest of us conscious.

[Lord Undies]

the surgery was apparently successful, but what caught my attention is that he was awake during the procedure.

thanks, but if you saw through my skull, I want to be as unconscious as possible.  I want the whole freaking anesthesia cabinet thrown at me.

They didn't want his head to be swimming.

[Schadenfreude]

Get well soon Teddy.

Ok, people.... someone tie my hands together, I am seriously fighting the urge to post the xray of Homer Simpson's brain. 

[Wretched Excess]

I am glad that he came through the surgery so well.  best wishes for a speedy recovery, Sen. Kennedy.

[Flame]

Actually, they do a lot of brain surgeries with the patient concious these days...it keeps the loss of function down to a minimum because they can "test" the sections they are working in before they take it out.

[Chris_]

Get well soon Teddy.

Ok, people.... someone tie my hands together, I am seriously fighting the urge to post the xray of Homer Simpson's brain. 

Look Ma, no hands.


The fact the man is in distress and I did pray for him does not undo a single evil deed in his alcohol-besotted life, from Mary Jo to his anti-American socilaism for all these years he skated on Daddy's ill-gotten gains.

I am more concerned about his family than about him.

[morningAngel]

Actually, they do a lot of brain surgeries with the patient concious these days...it keeps the loss of function down to a minimum because they can "test" the sections they are working in before they take it out.

exactly!  by the person being awake they can determine what area of the brain is affected and to what extent..
besides, the brain doesn't have nerves so no pain!  a little lidocaine to numb the skull for the saw and you won't feel a thing

[Wretched Excess]

Actually, they do a lot of brain surgeries with the patient concious these days...it keeps the loss of function down to a minimum because they can "test" the sections they are working in before they take it out.

I understand, but it still sounds gruesome.

[Wretched Excess]

Actually, they do a lot of brain surgeries with the patient concious these days...it keeps the loss of function down to a minimum because they can "test" the sections they are working in before they take it out.

exactly!  by the person being awake they can determine what area of the brain is affected and to what extent..
besides, the brain doesn't have nerves so no pain!  a little lidocaine to numb the skull for the saw and you won't feel a thing

they would have to find my brain first.

[Chris_]

every one of my neurosurgeries were done while I was unconscious.  I'll be nice and white-out the icky details.

The doctor cut an opening in the scalp and drilled a burr hole through the skull.  A catheter tube was threaded through it into the brain. 

It was a lot less painful than the eye surgery.

[morningAngel]

Actually, they do a lot of brain surgeries with the patient concious these days...it keeps the loss of function down to a minimum because they can "test" the sections they are working in before they take it out.

exactly!  by the person being awake they can determine what area of the brain is affected and to what extent..
besides, the brain doesn't have nerves so no pain!  a little lidocaine to numb the skull for the saw and you won't feel a thing

they would have to find my brain first.

you do have a point there, although at some time they would probably just decide to call it a vasectomy and give up!

[Lord Undies]

Actually, they do a lot of brain surgeries with the patient concious these days...it keeps the loss of function down to a minimum because they can "test" the sections they are working in before they take it out.

exactly!  by the person being awake they can determine what area of the brain is affected and to what extent..
besides, the brain doesn't have nerves so no pain!  a little lidocaine to numb the skull for the saw and you won't feel a thing

they would have to find my brain first.

That's why God gave us the proctoscope.

[Wretched Excess]

every one of my neurosurgeries were done while I was unconscious.  I'll be nice and white-out the icky details.

The doctor cut an opening in the scalp and drilled a burr hole through the skull.  A catheter tube was threaded through it into the brain. 

It was a lot less painful than the eye surgery.

they aren't cutting my eyeballs without a fight, either.

[Wretched Excess]

Actually, they do a lot of brain surgeries with the patient concious these days...it keeps the loss of function down to a minimum because they can "test" the sections they are working in before they take it out.

exactly!  by the person being awake they can determine what area of the brain is affected and to what extent..
besides, the brain doesn't have nerves so no pain!  a little lidocaine to numb the skull for the saw and you won't feel a thing

they would have to find my brain first.

That's why God gave us the proctoscope.

*snark*

was that a gift from God?

[Rebel]

**** him. Why didn't he go to a hospital comparable to one he wants to put US all in? Elitist prick. He should have had Naifong performing the surgery.

[Wretched Excess]

Actually, they do a lot of brain surgeries with the patient concious these days...it keeps the loss of function down to a minimum because they can "test" the sections they are working in before they take it out.

exactly!  by the person being awake they can determine what area of the brain is affected and to what extent..
besides, the brain doesn't have nerves so no pain!  a little lidocaine to numb the skull for the saw and you won't feel a thing

they would have to find my brain first.

you do have a point there, although at some time they would probably just decide to call it a vasectomy and give up!

a penile lobotomy?

[Lord Undies]

Actually, they do a lot of brain surgeries with the patient concious these days...it keeps the loss of function down to a minimum because they can "test" the sections they are working in before they take it out.

exactly!  by the person being awake they can determine what area of the brain is affected and to what extent..
besides, the brain doesn't have nerves so no pain!  a little lidocaine to numb the skull for the saw and you won't feel a thing

they would have to find my brain first.

That's why God gave us the proctoscope.

*snark*

was that a gift from God?

Yes.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow....that includes the blessing of the smarts to invent stuff.

[Chris_]

Actually, they do a lot of brain surgeries with the patient concious these days...it keeps the loss of function down to a minimum because they can "test" the sections they are working in before they take it out.

exactly!  by the person being awake they can determine what area of the brain is affected and to what extent..
besides, the brain doesn't have nerves so no pain!  a little lidocaine to numb the skull for the saw and you won't feel a thing

they would have to find my brain first. :whatever: :-)

Oh, I am sure they could find my brain.  But finding the useful parts, OTOH...

[Wretched Excess]

**** him. Why didn't he go to a hospital comparable to one he wants to put US all in? Elitist prick. He should have had Naifong performing the surgery.

We (relatively) recently had cancer in the family;  he was sent to Duke.  jus' sayin'

[Rebel]

We (relatively) recently had cancer in the family;  he was sent to Duke.  jus' sayin'

Is your relative pushing for Socialized medicine? If not, it's Apples and Oranges, isn't it?

[Wretched Excess]

We (relatively) recently had cancer in the family;  he was sent to Duke.  jus' sayin'

Is your relative pushing for Socialized medicine? If not, it's Apples and Oranges, isn't it?

no, he was pushing to survive.  

but, yes, your point is well taken.  if a nationalize health care system was instituted along the lines that
kennedy/clinton/obama are pushing, there probably wouldn't be any Duke Medical Centers left.

I was just pointing out that "normal people" do get treatment at Duke.

[Rebel]

no, he was pushing to survive.  

but, yes, your point is well taken.  if a nationalize health care system was instituted along the lines that
kennedy/clinton/obama are pushing, there probably wouldn't be any Duke Medical Centers left.

I was just pointing out that "normal people" do get treatment at Duke.

Then you're reading me COMPLETELY wrong. If I had a heart problem, I'd probably go to Emory. Brain? Duke. However, "I'M" not pushing for socialized medicine. I KNOW normal people go to places like Duke. That's not the issue.

[Rebel]

I.s. Let a sorry motherf'er like that go to a hospital he's trying to force US all into.