Must-See Video: Man Plays Guitar As Brain Tumor Is Removed!
Brain surgery? Tumor removal? Why not bring your guitar along and play some sweet tunes! This is exactly what a man in Brazil did during major brain surgery.
According to CNN, Anthony Kullkamp Dias sang a total of six different songs while doctors worked to remove a tumor. The surgery (and impromptu concert) took place at the Hospital Nossa Senhora da Conceicao. With his guitar laid carefully across his mid-section, 33-year-old Kullkamp belted out a couple of Beatles classics, including “Yesterday”. He also sang a few popular Brazilian tunes and an original composition dedicated to his newborn son, Emanuel.
The guitar-playing patient even gave an encore!
A patient played guitar during his own brain surgery to help doctors better map his brain activity http://t.co/D16pR4rzfP
— Mashable (@mashable) June 4, 2015
Before you start questioning the wisdom of allowing a man to entertain himself and the surgeons during brain surgery, you should know that there is a reason he was allowed to do so. Doctors want patients like Kullkamp awake and talking while they operate; it’s a process known as cerebral monitoring. Clinical Director Dr. Jean Abreu Machado said surgeons keep a patient awake during surgery to allow areas of the brain to be monitored in real-time.
With the patient awake, doctors can keep tabs on cognitive functions while carefully operating on one of the most sensitive areas of the body. A wrong move could cause severe, and perhaps irreparable damage. They may also note the immediate effects of taking the tumor out of the brain.
For the squeamish, you should know that there are no pain receptors in the brain. That means that a patient can be kept awake throughout without really experiencing any pain.
This Brazilian man played The Beatles’ best hits on his guitar while undergoing brain surgery http://t.co/X90fcHX6RL pic.twitter.com/gcd4ugStTo
— Daily Mail Femail (@Femail) June 4, 2015
Prior to brain surgery to remove the nasty tumor, Kullkamp was aware that something was wrong. The banker had been “stammering and forgetting things.” The Daily News reports that he’d forget unusual things… such as the make and model of his own car. Anthony was diagnosed with a brain tumor just days before his son was born. A professional guitar player for two decades, Anthony can also play other instruments, including the flute and accordion.
Kullkamp’s guitar-playing did seem to be a big hit with the doctors.
“The doctors asked me to repeat one of the country songs, so I even had an encore.”
Kullkamp said that he experienced no pain during the brain surgery. Doctors were able to recover about 90 percent of the tumor from the guitar-playing patient’s brain.
Anthony Kullkamp Dias was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday.
[Image Credit: Guardian Science And Tech YouTube/Hospital Nossa Senhora da Conceicao]
