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No, this wasn't a karaoke bar. This was brain surgery.
Vied, a 30-year-old preschool teacher from Keansburg, was diagnosed with epilepsy years ago, but was having breakthrough seizures despite being on anti-seizure medication.
An MRI found Vied had a brain tumor, and she was referred to Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute at Jersey Shore University Medical Center neuro-oncologist, Shama Farooq, M.D., and Nitesh V Patel, M.D., Co-Director of Neurosurgical Oncology.
Patel, a Jersey City native who completed undergrad and medical school at Rutgers University, explained to Vied last spring that the tumor was likely to become malignant, and had to come out.
The best course of action? Brain surgery. Awake.
"In every one of these cases, as long as we're selective with patients, they do invariably well," said Patel, who was featured on the hit Netflix documentary "Lenox Hill," alongside some of the top neurosurgeons in the world.
Vied's tumor was in a high-risk part of her brain that controls speech. So, Patel developed a plan to remove the tumor using Quicktome brain mapping.
Patel's initial idea was to have Vied converse through surgery in order to preserve her speech. But then, he had a better idea.
"Kristina loves karaoke," Patel said on a call with Daily Voice. "She loves to sing."
And so, that's exactly what she did as she went under the knife on May 16, at Jersey Shore Medical Center.
Patel laid out the plan for Vied so that she felt comfortable going into surgery.
First, she'd come into the operating room and be put to sleep without a breathing tube. Then, she'd be placed on a light sleep setting, as physicians numbed her scalp including everything above the eyebrow line, like a halo around her head, Patel explained.
Once everything was numb, Patel would make his incision. Before he opened the covering of the brain, though, he'd have the anesthesiologist wake Vied.
"We give patients five minutes and get them to relax," he said. "At that point, they're a little drowsy, but they're up in a couple of minutes. Then we have a conversation and explain what we're going to do. At that point they’re awake, and that’s how we get them through surgery."
That's exactly how it went with Vied, and once she was ready, she was warming up her pipes.
They started off with some Neil Diamond and John Denver, then moved on to Vied's picks: Songs from the "Moana" soundtrack.
"For this 20- to 25-minute process of removing the tumor, Krystina was singing," the doctor said.
While entertaining, the singing served a major purpose, Patel explained: "We were able to pick up on problem areas through her speech."
Delays in speech and errors in pronunciation were some of the cues that Patel was listening for.
"If a patient starts mispronouncing words, or pitch and rhythm changes, we're suspicious," Patel said.
For Vied, that happened about 90 percent of the way through surgery.
Patel stimulated the area of the tumor with an electrical probe, and if that elicited an electrical response, he knew it was a critical area and that it was time to end surgery as not to compromise any of Vied's brain function.
"We accomplished more than our goal," Patel said. "The rest will be battled with chemo and radiation."
Vied stayed awake through the remainder of the surgery, which Patel said helped with her recovery rate. She was home within 24 hours.
"I try to avoid putting the patient back to sleep after resecting the tumor," Patel said. "I'd rather keep them awake because this calms the patient more, so by the time I'm done with the surgery, they're fully awake and feeling good."
Patel has seen Vied three times since her procedure and said she's doing well. Not only is she eager to get back to work, but she hasn't had any seizures.
With the help of Farooq and Patel's team, Krystina is enrolling as one of the first patients worldwide into a clinical trial to continue to combat the remaining tumor.
"There's something about being there for patients in this excruciating time of need and offering them a pillar of support and guidance that felt right for me," said Patel on his decision to go into neurosurgery and brain tumor removal.
"I love this job and I love coming to work every day."
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