KarunaNews Story

Surgeons removed a tumor from the brain of professional guitarist Christian Nolen as he played 1980s and 90s rock music while undergoing an awake craniotomy. During the surgery at the University of Miami's Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, he played several songs by rock groups the Deftones and System of a Down. "It was just like out of this world, like, to just like wake up and like have people actively working inside of your head," he said. "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," Dr Ricardo Komotar, director of the University of Miami Brain Tumor Initiative, told Fox News. Surgeons successfully removed all of Nolen's tumor and discharged him the day after the surgery.