Billy Graham Stable After Brain Surgery

Evangelist Billy Graham was alert following brain surgery yesterday to replace a tube that helps drain excess fluid from his head, his doctor told AP. "He was bright and alert and conscious immediately after surgery and called me by name," said the surgeon. The hospital lists the 89-year-old in fair condition.

Graham's new shunt helps relieve his hydrocephalus, a condition in which fluid builds up around the brain and causes pressure and symptoms similar to those of Parkinson's disease. The previous tube, inserted in 2000, was no longer draining properly. This is the latest of many health concerns for the popular preacher, whose wife died last June. (More Billy Graham stories.)