It’s not a big secret that surgeons will play music while they are in the operating room. But for one recent surgery, doctors took it a bit further – they had live music playing while they worked. Their performer? Their patient: a guitarist who has having a tumor removed from his brain.

Christian Nolen, an avid guitar player from Florida, it all started when he noticed issues affecting the left side of his body. “I had lost feeling in my whole left side. From the waist up, like, I wasn’t able to move my arm, my face began to drag,” Nolen said. He also began having issues playing his guitar, and even using his left hand at all.

After doctor visits, Nolen was diagnosed with a glioma – a tumor on the right frontal lobe of his brain. It’s the area that controls movement, as well as other cognitive abilities. Quickly, doctors scheduled Nolen for surgery, with a goal to determine the type of tumor and to remove as much of it as possible.

Christopher Nolan meets with his doctor. Photo by Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

But doctors had one special request for Nolan: would he be willing to play his guitar during the surgery? Surgeon Ricardo Komotar, M.D., is the director of the brain tumor program at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Christian was having issues with the left side of his body, particularly his left hand,” Komotar said.

He was noticing issues with his dexterity that affected his ability to play the guitar.”

Nolen said he was surprised when they asked him if he would stay awake and play his guitar. But doctors said it was important. “When a tumor is involving or near a critical part of the brain — something that controls the ability to speak or understand language or move — we want to do the surgery awake to continually monitor the patient, so you know if you start to violate normal brain functions,” Komotar said.

If the patient is asleep, he said, there is no real-time feedback.  “The surgeries actually become much more dangerous because you can take out a tumor that involves normal brain function and cause real harm without knowing it,” Komotar said.

Considering how important guitar-playing was for Nolen, there seemed no other choice. “I’d only really heard of procedures of that nature being done in shows and movies,” he said. “I felt like it was such a unique experience that I couldn’t pass up — especially with my motor skills being on the line.”

The risk of being sedated for the entire procedure outweighed any fear or anxieties around the procedure itself.”

For the surgery, Nolen was put to sleep for the beginning of the open craniotomy, but he was awakened when the tumor removal was in process. Nolen said it was a bit alarming to be woken up during the procedure. “Upon awakening, it was quite overwhelming to see everything around me and to fight the natural reaction to sit up,” Nolen said. “I just had to breathe and stay calm.”

After being handed his guitar, Nolen played through songs he had been practicing on, from a range of bands like the Deftones and System of a Down. Surgeons kept a close watch on Nolen’s hand function as he played. “As we were finishing the case at the very back of the tumor, we noticed that his hand function started to decline,” Komotar said.

Christian Nolen played his guitar through his brain surgery. Photo by Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

“The tumor was touching and interfacing with the part of the brain that controls hand movement. Fortunately, we were able to remove the entire tumor and not injure his hand,” Komotar said.  Nolen’s surgery went as well as he could have hoped for. Doctors were thrilled with the outcome.

“Christian did terrific,” Komotar said. “He went home the day after surgery. He says his quality of life is better than it’s ever been, so I think his recovery has been remarkable.” Nolen is still waiting on final pathology results of the tumor. Once the results are known, doctors said, he will likely undergo weeks of radiation and chemotherapy as additional, follow-up treatment. Watch below for a look at this amazing surgery!

Sources: NY Post | The Guardian