December 23, 2018

"I felt very awkward and uncomfortable. Being in between general anesthesia and awake and hearing the sounds of a blow torch inside your brain... it’s very difficult to concentrate."

Said the jazz musician who played guitar during brain surgery (not because he wanted the musical diversion but so the surgeons could see and preserve the music-playing parts of his brain).



IN THE COMMENTS: John Henry say: "A couple years ago banjoist Eddie Adcock had brain surgery while playing a banjo. I believe you blogged it...." Ah, yes. Here. In 2008. Let's watch that again:

18 comments:

traditionalguy said...

Amazing medical skills. That's not what we would get with Medicaide for all.

John henry said...

Is this a thing?

A couple years ago banjoist Eddie Adcock had brain surgery while playing a banjo.

I believe you blogged it here.

How common is this?

John Henry

Ann Althouse said...

My sense of what is bloggable is strangely stable after all these years. Has the blog changed at all? It's bizarre not to be going anywhere, just being relentlessly here.

AllenS said...

I don't play any musical instruments. I guess that I could just take a nap through the proceedings.

tds said...

If they left parts with guitar/banjo playing skills, then which parts did they cut out? What was the trade?

John henry said...

Amazing. I have my own tag.

Interesting to go back and see how many times I've been recognized here.

I feel like an internet celebrity!

John Henry

Curious George said...

Tom Brady will be chucking under inflated footballs when he has his.

William said...

Given a choice between giving up guitar playing or being awake during brain surgery, I would choose to give up guitar playing. Perhaps he has an untapped talent for flower arrangements that he never properly developed because of all that guitar playing. I'd give up a lot to avoid being awake during brain surgery.

Yancey Ward said...

I can manage a root canal awake, but brain surgery? I don't think so.

Tom T. said...

My surgery would get a lot more publicity: "The unidentified patient masturbated vigorously throughout the procedure...."

walter said...

Marching sousaphone players would be hard to accommodate.

Ralph L said...

He needs better insurance.

When I had two Mohs surgeries for basal cell removal, they provided my choice of music. The distraction was worth it, as one was on my upper lip and the other on two sides and two ends of my arm at once (skin graft), which required an uncomfortable double twist of my arm.

Ralph L said...

Tom T ought to be front paged for internet immortality.

walter said...

Maybe a surgeon could operate on themselves.

Fernandinande said...

How common is this?

"Awake brain surgery" is "a thing".

SeanF said...

At about 15 seconds into the second video, the patient shakes his head in an apparent "no" response to a question. Later, he appears to nod "yes" to another question.

Do they not have to immobilize the head while doing brain surgery?

Anonymous said...

I'm glad they can figure out how not to cut out the "music part of the brain"* while you play as they cut, but..um..isn't it obvious they are therefore removing some other skill it might be really really important for you to have? Isn't that alarming? Why is that not unavoidable?

*Does anyone ever explain what this "place" of stuff in the brain means? I get that yeah, MRIs light up in regions..but they knew those regions before cutting...What this mapping is they're doing? Individual whats? Skills? Memories?

Bunkypotatohead said...

So what happens when they cut the wrong thing and he stops playing?
Does the surgeon get a do over or something?