Sen. Kennedy’s Quiet Recovery
The questions from passersby here in Durham, NC quickly changed from “What are you covering?” to “What’s the type and grade of the senator’s tumor?” and other medical questions far more detailed than the answers we’ve gotten so far.
Sen. Kennedy’s family has yet to say how much of the malignant glioma doctors were able to remove. However, his neurosurgeon Dr. Allan Friedman said in general terms that “the operation was successful and accomplished our goals.”
Many experts in cancer treatment believe that by surgically removing as much tumor as possible, you increase the effectiveness of followup treatments because there’s less tumor to fight. Sen. Kennedy is scheduled to receive both chemotherapy and radiation treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital after a week of recovery here at Duke Medical Center.
It’s unclear how much, if anything, family members or hospital officials will say during the recovery period. If the process goes according to plan, it should be uneventful.
In this case, no news is good news.
Jonathan Serrie is an Atlanta-based correspondent for FNC. He was
stationed in Macedonia during Operation Allied Force and in Uzbekistan
during Operation Enduring Freedom. 
That family has more hard times….Good work out there Johnny. Safe travels!
I wonder why, if Sen. Kennedy was so all fired hot on the new Democrat health care reform, he didn’t follow the guidelines set up in their system? It would have taken about six months to schedule his MRI and perhaps a year for the surgery after that. Talk to the people who live with their health care system day to day such as Canada, Briton, and New Zealand and find out what it takes to get a priority in that kind of system. Perhaps it’s just the elitist Democrats who will receive the best care under the ?new? system.
I think that it’s really weird that all the men of the Kennedy family, For many years now, all seem to die off in strange ways,,,,,,,,, I just can’t help but wonder what the Kennedy’s did and who they did it to, sooo long ago, that it has followed them around, through time, to haunt them all to this day.
I do not agree with anything that Mr. Kennedy represented from a political point of view. Yet my sympathy goes out to anyone who contracts this type of ailment.
I wish him and his family the best.
Regarding Dennis’ comments about socialized health care…..
I have lived in countries that have both systems.
I can assure you that if you contract a malignant brain tumor in Canada, New Zealand, Italy, or the United Kingdom you will be treated as promptly as Mr. Kennedy was in our system.
Delays often times revolve around non-life threatening situation like knee and hip replacements, ACL surgery etc.
I am not a supporter of government being involved in any of this but to suggest that like threatening situations are ignored by a state-run approach to healthcare is inaccurate and misleading.
MG