Author recalls how Friedman's surgery extended his life

DURHAM -- Reynolds Price last saw his neurosurgeon, Allan Friedman, a few months ago. They shared a few jokes.

Twenty-four years ago, Friedman removed an 11-inch malignant tumor from Price's spine. On Monday, the acclaimed Duke surgeon spent more than three hours operating on one of American's major political figures, Sen. Ted Kennedy, at Duke Hospital.

"I'm sitting here with every finger crossed for both of them," said Price, an author and Duke University English professor.

When Price heard that Kennedy had a brain tumor, he hoped Kennedy would trust his care to Friedman, who is considered among the world's best tumor and vascular neurosurgeons. Friedman was among several experts who met with Kennedy at Massachusetts General last week.

Friedman, 59, who has been with Duke for 34 years, is responsible for many of the tumor resections and biopsies at the university hospital, and has written hundreds of articles on brain tumor and vascular lesion surgery, according to Duke's Web site.

Friedman is participating in collaborative research on primary malignant brain tumors, epilepsy and subarachnoid hemorrhage, which is bleeding deep in the brain.

Price has known Friedman since 1984, when Friedman operated on Price's spinal tumor. Price wrote about the experience in his autobiography, "A Whole New Life."

In 1986, Friedman performed two more operations on Price using a new technology that allowed him to fully remove the tumor inside Price's spine.

One surgery took six to eight hours. "I said, 'What were you doing for that long?' " Price recalled. He said Friedman responded jokingly that he was separating cell A from cell B.

Back then, Price said, Friedman was surprisingly young.

"When he first walked into my room, I thought they sent me Doogie Howser. I couldn't believe it," Price said. "But they told me in advance that he was the most brilliant. The man kept me alive while I was very, very ill. I'm very fond of him."

Price said he hopes Kennedy has the same success he enjoyed.

(The reporter is not related to Allan Friedman.)