Ted Kennedy's brain surgery called successful

On June 2, 2008, Ted Kennedy underwent surgery at Duke University for his brain tumor. Surgery was considered the most aggressive route possible in treating the tumor; his doctors had not previously mentioned the possibility of surgery to the public. The surgery, conducted by Dr. Allan Friedman, lasted for about three and a half hours, and according to Friedman, it was successful in its goals. Friedman said that the surgery was performed on Kennedy while he was awake and that he did not expect Kennedy to suffer any permanent neurological effects from the surgery. It is believed that the intention of the surgery was to reduce the tumor as much as possible (it is considered impossible to surgically remove such a tumor entirely) so that the subsequent treatments will be more likely to succeed. Kennedy is planned to spend a brief period recuperating from the surgery before beginning chemotherapy and radiation treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital.