Posted on 06/30/2008 12:17:53 PM PDT by AT7Saluki
It was a Friday afternoon, and Dr. Allan Friedman was headed for a vacation in Canada when his cell phone rang.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, newly diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor, had searched the nation for the best neurosurgeon to remove the growth -- and he wanted Friedman.
By the following Monday, a horde of reporters was camped outside Duke Medical Center, and Friedman was performing a tricky operation inside the brain of one of the country's most powerful politicians. It was at once an honor and a burden for a man who has spent 34 years building a reputation as one of the world's leading brain surgeons.
A successful surgery would be a boon to his career and to Duke. But the slightest mistake or problem would be scrutinized by the nation.
Fortunately, as a man who spends four days a week slicing into brains, Friedman is used to pressure. Kennedy's surgery was successful. And now, after hiding from the media during the initial frenzy, Friedman has agreed to step out of the shadows.
Friedman, 59, says operating on Kennedy provided a rare brush with celebrity. Kennedy had guards posted in the hallways and was taken to the heliport, away from the glare of cameras, for exercise.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsobserver.com ...
Kennedy however is the Salieri of Senators.
“Sorry, Senator but your scheduled surgery won’t be until August 23rd.” ~ If universal health care were enacted.
Too bad the surgeon had to play from scribbled music.
Oh no,if Universal Health Care is enacted we can get this same doctor the next day. Yeh! Right!
LOL, I was waiting for a reference to Salieri.
Prayers up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Does Kennedy's adocated "free" health care system allow anyone to do what he just did?
There is not a doubt in my mind that the irony is completely lost on that socialist pantload Kennedy and his fellow Democrat “universal health care” scumbags.
Sure. If you work here, that is.
It’s a smart doctor who avoids VIP patients.
Hillarycare will guarantee it.
With Democrat sponsored government health care, he would have had to wait twelve months and his surgeon would have been Cher.
Some celebrity. He’s a two bit serial cheater on his wife, that skated on manslaughter charges, and an ethics boot from the Senate of the United States.
If there were a picture of ‘white trash’ in the dictonary, this miscreant’s photo would be used.
I’ll take Congress’ health care plan.
Another gauge of the surgeon’s mastery would be if Teddy’s implausible liberalism were removed as well during the procedure.
Yep this is ironic isn’t it? One of the champions of socialized medicine is confronted with a health problem, and he searches for the best surgeon he can find. He exercises a free choice to search the nation for the top doctor he can find. We all would like to deal with our health issues as Sen. Kennedy just did. We don’t want to be straight jacketed into a socialized plan in which we don’t have our choices of how to proceed.
I don’t understand. Kennedy? The senator who demands national health coverage for the rest of us? Why didn’t he fly to England or Canada and get on the surgical waiting list of new doctors everyone in those countries has to use? This must be a mistake...
Aw, man, you beat me to the joke!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.