Anthony Kulkamp Dias, who is 33 years old, was having brain surgery to remove a tumor. While undergoing the treatment he not only sang the famous Beatles song, but 5 others, including one called ‘“Emanuel,” which he composed for his newly born son, reports the Huffington Post.
The other tunes were Brazilian country songs and, the surprised medical staff, liked one of the songs so much they even asked Mr Dias for an encore. No listening to classical music while carrying out operations for these guys.
The Telegraph quotes Mr Dias as telling local media;
“I played six songs at certain times,” he said, while balancing the guitar on his stomach. “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.”
“The doctors asked me to repeat one of the country songs so I even had an encore,” he added.
Mr Dias works in a bank, though he has also been a professional guitar player for the past 20 years. He also plays the accordion, keyboards, trumpet and the flute, though wasn’t allowed to use them during the procedure.
He wrote the song Emanuel for his song when he discovered he had a brain tumor, just two weeks after the boy was born.
At the time, he was stammering so badly, he couldn’t even say the name of his car, he told local media.
It is usually necessary to keep a patient awake during brain operations. Cerebral monitoring, as its called, plays an important role in the success of the surgery. A spokesperson for the hospital said that it’s, “important to prevent injuries that occur in the sensory, motor and speech areas during the procedure.”
CNN quoted doctors at the Hospital Nossa Senhora da Conceicao, who said that they needed to keep Dias conscious so they could “monitor and map the brain for possible injuries to areas that control motor function and speech, which might be affected by the removal of the tumor.
Mr Dias said he felt no pain. Still lying there with half your skull off can’t be a pleasant experience.
The Telegraph quoted Dr Jean Abreu Machado, the hospital’s clinical director, who explained:
“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.”
While the brain itself doesn’t feel pain, the skin and other surrounding areas do.
“At this point, the anesthetist’s challenge begins: to keep the patient awake and pain-free,” Dr Machado added.
Doctors said they successfully removed 90% of the tumor and Mr Dias left hospital Friday.
