Is there another source for the violin playing brain cancer patient? See detail.
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flo (
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February 20th, 2020
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What is it you believe inaccurate in the print or broadcast reporting of this story? You know the function of the headlines.
I saw this story on several different websites yesterday, but I don’t remember which ones. In reading the story & not just the headlines, she has a brain tumor & has been playing the violin for over 40 years. The docs had told her that there was a possibility that she might lose her ability to play the violin while they were removing the tumor. She said that the violin is her life & she would be lost IF she could no longer play. That’s when one of the doctors asked her IF she would be willing to play her violin during the surgery so they could tell IF they were about to work on an area that would negatively effect her ability to play. They managed to remove 90% of the tumor without doing any lasting damage to her skills. One of the articles had a video of her playing as the doctors worked.
Although it amazes me how doctors can tell what to do & where to go in the brain from having the patient awake & alert while they work, I have read numerous accounts of this being done with some regularity!!!
Allthe articles I’ve read seem pretty consistent with what the npr article contains and the headlines appear to be a fair indication of the contents.
I saw a footage of her playing on TV yesterday. So at least it’s legit enough.
Was she playing the violin during/while surgery? “One of the articles had a video of her playing as the doctors worked.” from @LadyMarissa‘s post. But another source said they stopped the surgery.
Yes.
They anaesthetise the patient and perform a craniotomy (take part of the skull away to expose the bit of brain they are interested in). Then they wake the patient and start mapping what the areas of brain do. In this case they asked the patient to play the violin so she would be in the operating theatre with her brain exposed as they stimulated parts of the exposed brain. Once they are confident that they can remove the tumour with out damaging anything else they probably anaesthetise the patient again and complete the surgery.
If you read what @Lightlyseared wrote, they were mapping her brain activity while she played so they were working on her, just not excising the tumor.
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