Michelle Bezy with her grandmother and mother.
covered, she believes, with
the help of God.
Michelle, today 13, was
in kindergarten in 1986
when she started feeling "a
sharp, dull pain" in her
lower back.
"She used to tell us it
was like a knife cutting
into her," Mrs. Bezy says.
"I was in tears. She would
wake up in the middle of
the night screaming, 'Help
me, Mommy; help me."
Physicians repeatedly
examined Michelle but
found nothing. One even
suggested the problem was
in Michelle's mind and
offered to make an
appointment with a psy-
= chiatrist. Ella Bezy stuck
co
— by her daughter. "I just
LL, knew there was something
wrong, though I never
c , thought it could be a
- tumor."
performed
Doctors
w surgery in 1986. They saw
scar tissue and an inflam-
mation, but they couldn't
find the tumor, despite the
fact that it had been diag-
o
38
nosed by Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI).
Michelle's pain contin-
ued. "It's agony watching
your child suffer," Mrs.
Bezy says. "You feel so
helpless because there's
nothing you can do."
"You can ask God
questions. You
can't demand
answers."
Dr. Fred Epstein
Then an acquaintance
told the family about Dr.
Epstein. An insurance
agent also mentioned the
surgeon. "When we heard
that name twice, it was
like a sign from God," Mrs.
Bezy says.
Mrs. Bezy spoke to Dr.
Epstein on a Friday. By
Tuesday they were in New
York for a consultation.
The surgery removed
about 95 percent of
Michelle's tumor. Today,
she plays clarinet, swims
and is an honor roll stu-
dent at Fuhrmann Middle
School in Sterling Heights.
She credits her family
with helping her make it
through her extensive
medical. care.
Mrs. Bezy thanks God
and Dr. Epstein. "We're
really fortunate God led us
in the right path," she
says. "Idon't know what
we would have done if we
hadn't found Dr. Epstein."
he miracle tool is
called the Cavitron..
Before the 1970s,
tumors in the brain-
stem were considered inop-
erable. Then NYU Medical
Center physicians took a
look at the Cavitron,
which dentists used to
remove plaque and suction
tartar. With its fine,
vibrating tip, the Cavitron
both separates and suc-
tions tissue. NYU
researchers found it a
valuable tool in removing
cataracts. Dr. Epstein was
the first who saw it could
T
be used to help children
with tumors.
Working with the
Cavitron and other techno-
logical advances, Dr.
Epstein has been able to
remove many tumors in
the brain, brainstem and
along the spinal cord.
Surgery is a day-long
affair, and the work is
meticulous. Dr. Epstein
uses the Cavitron in short
bursts to liquefy the
tumor, knowing every step
of the way that an acciden-
tal bump or a move a little
too far can leave the child
paralyzed.
Dr. Epstein is generous
with his techniques. He
teaches them to his two
assistants, one of whom
will become pediatric neu-
rosurgeon for Hadassah
Hospital, and he shares
them with other physi-,
cians. He regularly spon-
sors conferences, held in
Israel, for pediatric sur-
geons around the world.
Dr. Epstein insists just
about anyone can be
trained to do what he does,
though he's selective about
who he takes as an assis-
tant.
"Today, you don't neces-
sarily have to have 'golden
hands,' " he says. "There
are microscopes and
lasers. What you do need
is compassion. And that
you can't teach."
The father of five and a
member of Temple Shalom
in Connecticut, where he
and his family live, Dr.
Epstein never makes
peace with the death of a
child. Yet his faith
remains solid.
"You can ask God ques-
tions," he says. "You can't
demand answers."
delle Duren had just
come back from
surgery in New
York. It was winter
in Michigan and she want-
ed spring. "So I brought
spring into my home. I got
flowers and I went roller
skating in the basement."
Dr. Epstein operated for
six hours on Adelle and
A