The
iracle
Dr. Fred Epstein insists he's merely mortal.
But don't tell that to the Michigan
families whose children he has saved.
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSISTANT EDITOR
THE DET RO IT JE WIS H N EWS
M
34
ichelle Bezy of
Warren woke up
screaming in pain
in the middle of the
night. Doctors be-
lieved the 6 year old
had a spinal-cord
tumor, but they couldn't
find it.
Doug VanderMeer of
Grand Rapids was diag-
nosed four years ago with
an inoperable brain tumor.
Doctors were certain it
was malignant.
Adelle Duren of Holland
was 7 when her tumor was
discovered. Her physician
doubted she would live
another five months.
All three are alive today
because of a New York
physician who loves the
toys in Cracker Jacks, the-
ater that doesn't carry a
heavy, philosophical mes-
sage — "The Will Rogers
Follies — that's my style"
— and describes himself
as "an ardent Zionist, and
I do mean ardent."
His name is Fred
Epstein, and he is head of
the New York University
Medical Center's division
of pediatric neurosurgery.
Dr. Epstein has devel
oped a reputation as a mir-
acle worker since he will
operate in cases few other
physicians care to tackle.
He works solely with chil-
dren, and his specialty is
tumors in the brain, spinal
cord and brainstem, locat-
ed at the base of the brain
and the control center for
such vital functions as
breathing.
Since the recent publica-
tion of his book Gifts of
Time, Dr. Epstein has
been receiving more than
100 calls a day from
around the world. He will
be able to help in about 25
percent of the cases.
Parents tell him: "You
are our last hope."
Sharon VanderMeer of
Grand Rapids learned
about Dr. Epstein's work
after reading an article
about him. Her son, Doug,
had been diagnosed with a
" brain tumor during his
junior year in high school,
but Mrs. VanderMeer was
optimistic the problem
could be taken care of
without surgery. "I put the
article on Dr. Epstein
away," she says. "I hoped
we'd never have to use it."
Local physicians tried
radiation then chemother-
apy to treat Doug's tumor.
The chemotherapy result-
ed in numerous infections.
By the end of his senior
year, Doug learned the
size of his tumor had dou-
bled. Physicians consid-
ered it inoperable.
Mrs. VanderMeer decid-
ed it was time to call Dr.
Epstein. The doctor's first
words to her son: "You're
not going to die."
Doug flew in to New
York for surgery in
September 1992. Dr.
Epstein removed most of
the benign tumor in a pro-
cedure that lasted six
hours.
Today, Doug is active in
his church youth group
and is taking a college
course. His favorite T-
shirt, a gift from a friend,
reads, "Dr. Epstein is the
reason I'm here."
It's difficult for Mrs.
VanderMeer to discuss her
son's illness. She remem-
bers the times Doug cried
out in pain, the many
nights she and her hus-
band stayed with him at
the hospital.
But she tells the story
because maybe someone
else will read it and dis-
cover a miracle, the way
she did.
"I just can't tell you how
wonderful Dr. Epstein is,"
she says. "He's not only a
brilliant surgeon, he's a
compassionate man. It's a
feeling everyone there (at
NYU Medical Center) has
— all the nurses, the doc-