Musician serenades surgeons, plays guitar while receiving brain surgery

Brazillian man plays Beatles songs during intense brain surgery.

A bank worker played Beatles' classics with his guitar while receiving an operation to remove a brain tumor. For part of the procedure, called cerebral monitoring, the man was necessarily awake to monitor the brain functions in real time, avoiding any other brain injuries.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - "I played six songs at certain times. My right hand was a bit weaker because that was the side that they were operating on. So I stopped and rested. I was interspersing songs and talking with them," said the 33-year-old bank worker, Anthony Kulkamp Diaz.

With the guitar placed on his stomach for balance, he performed encores. He stunned the medical professionals, as he remained conscious throughout the operation.

"While it surprised everyone, the surgery was performed. Cerebral monitoring - important to prevent injuries that occur in the sensory, motor and speech areas - occurred during the procedure," said a spokesperson for the Nossa Senhora da Conceição Hospital, Santa Catarina.

This was not the first time this kind of procedure was employed. Diaz's surgery had been the 19th surgery done with cerebral monitoring in that hospital.

"By keeping the patient awake during surgery, these areas can be monitored in real time. A kind of mapping of important areas can be done. It really is a great challenge for the whole surgery team, including the anesthetist," said the hospital's clinical director, Dr. Jean Abreu Machado.

The director noted that the role of the anesthetist is to keep the patient awake without much pain, considering certain body parts, like skin, will resort to sensory activities unlike the brain tissues.

Diaz found out about his tumor a few months ago, 15 days after his son Emmanuel was born.

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