Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Hackensack Meridian Health
Topics: Good News, News, Social Media, US News, Health
Britt Jones
Topics: Good News, News, Social Media, US News, Health
We all love a good bop, but what about singing during your brain surgery? This is what happened when a patient in New Jersey entered the operating theatre, in a video shared online by the health centre.
After suffering from epilepsy for twelve years, it was discovered that Krystina Vied, 30, had a tumour on her brain and needed surgery to remove it.
Dr Nitesh Patel, Co-director at the Jersey Shore University Medical Centre, headed the surgery and needed Krystina to be awake and talking so he could tell in real time any effect the surgery was having on her brain.
“The location of the tumor was high risk as it was within the part of her brain that controls her speech,” he explained in a press release.
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So, the team decided there was no better way to test it than to get her to sing some tunes.
Warning: graphic content.
Speaking to CNN, he explained the decision: "One of her passions is singing through karaoke, so we thought 'why not have her sing?'".
Describing how they chose the surgery playlist, Dr Patel explained: "You know it's funny, we started off with some Neil Diamond, and then I think Krystina didn't know too many of the lyrics, so I switched over to her options."
Her first thought when asked which song she'd like to sing to was the 2016 Disney Moana soundtrack, and it lead to a mini-concert in the operation room.
The reason for needing her to sing was so that the team could 'test her rhythm, her cadence, her pitch', said Dr Patel.
Krystina told NewsWeek after leaving the hospital that 'it was like throwing my own little concert for everyone.'
“I was definitely very nervous that I was going to be awake for the surgery, but very excited that Dr. Patel said that he wanted me to sing because I love singing. I sing all the time,” she added.
Towards the end of the operation, the doctor described that they noticed something changing when removing the patient's brain tumour.
He explained that she began having 'some errors in her singing' which would mean that removing any more brain tissue would put Krystina at risk.
Hackensack Meridian Health, which overheads the Jersey centre, shared a video of Krystina singing during her surgery.
In the caption, it wrote that she had been suffering from seizures which had 'grown more debilitating and frequent' as time passed.
After an MRI uncovered the cause, a tumour in her brain, her epilepsy was now understood to be a symptom of the mass.
But the operation didn't stop Krystina from having a good time, as she admitted: "I was having a pretty good time during the surgery."
The pre-kindergarten teacher knew that Moana would be the best choice, as she spent so much time with the children and knew all of the words.
Speaking about the experience, she said: "I had all the nurses and doctors singing and encouraging me to sing, I know saying the surgery was fun seems strange, but it was."
With the operation has been considered a success, Krystina was able to go home in less than a day after singing her heart out.