Woman sings and recites 50 US states as doctors perform brain surgery to remove tumour

A woman sang the 50 American states as doctors performed brain surgery to remove a tumour.

Jayden Zientara, 24, underwent the surgery at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee to remove an astrocytoma tumour the size of her fist.

Jayden wasn't kept awake during the whole procedure but before closing her up, she was woken up so doctors could test her brain functions.

Jayden's speech pathologist was tasked to come up with a test and Jayden suggested a music recital.

Jayden, who works as a nursing assistant in the same hospital, said: "I'm in touch with music. I always have been.

"I played clarinet when I was younger and I was in musicals too, so I suggested the 'Fifty nifty' state song for me to sing back to my therapist.

"I'm sure we sang it at school for veterans day or something and I've just never forgotten it since pretty much 2nd grade.

"The surgeons actually had to turn the radio off during surgery too as I kept singing the songs and not answering any of their questions - that's how much by brain is just in tune with music."

Jayden first noticed that something was wrong last year when she kept having migraines.

She didn't think much of it and assumed that her busy lifestyle and 12-hour work shifts could be to blame.

However, after trying medication that didn't help, she was sent for a CT scan where they detected the large grade two tumour.

Her oncologist informed her that this type of tumor was very rare in people her age, with it most commonly found in men over 40 and children under two.

She was immediately sent for an MRI on November 26, 2023 and went straight into surgery four days later.

The procedure took 12 hours in total and the surgeons were able to remove around 85% of her tumor.

Jayden said that the ordeal was scary but that her job definitely helped calm her during the experience.

She said: "Being in a medical field I see stuff often so I was very calm before the surgery.

"Of course, I got a bit nervous 30 mins before but I wasn't overwhelmed or anything.

"I had only my tonsils out before so going from a simple surgery like that to brain surgery is huge.

"But my surgeons really put me at ease and spoke to me every step of the way, I had full trust in them."

Jayden is now due to start a course of chemotherapy pills and radiotherapy.

The proton radiation therapy will last 6 weeks with a one month break, after which Jayden will be taking just the chemotherapy pills for a further year.

She says that she isn't nervous about the treatment but is concerned about the side effects.

She said: "I'm mainly worried about the tiredness as I'm a very active person.

"I know there will be days where I'm just too exhausted and I'll just want to stay in bed all day."

If the course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy doesn't work, there is a possibility that more brain surgeries will be needed in the future.