A woman sang the 50 American states as doctors performed brain surgery to remove a tumour. <br /><br />Jayden Zientara, 24, underwent the surgery at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee to remove an astrocytoma tumour the size of her fist.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Jayden's speech pathologist was tasked to come up with a test and Jayden suggested a music recital.<br /><br />Jayden, who works as a nursing assistant in the same hospital, said: "I'm in touch with music. I always have been.<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />"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."<br /><br />Jayden first noticed that something was wrong last year when she kept having migraines.<br /><br />She didn't think much of it and assumed that her busy lifestyle and 12-hour work shifts could be to blame.<br /><br />However, after trying medication that didn't help, she was sent for a CT scan where they detected the large grade two tumour.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />She was immediately sent for an MRI on November 26, 2023 and went straight into surgery four days later.<br /><br />The procedure took 12 hours in total and the surgeons were able to remove around 85% of her tumor.<br /><br />Jayden said that the ordeal was scary but that her job definitely helped calm her during the experience.<br /><br />She said: "Being in a medical field I see stuff often so I was very calm before the surgery.<br /><br />"Of course, I got a bit nervous 30 mins before but I wasn't overwhelmed or anything.<br /><br />"I had only my tonsils out before so going from a simple surgery like that to brain surgery is huge.<br /><br />"But my surgeons really put me at ease and spoke to me every step of the way, I had full trust in them."<br /><br />Jayden is now due to start a course of chemotherapy pills and radiotherapy.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />She says that she isn't nervous about the treatment but is concerned about the side effects.<br /><br />She said: "I'm mainly worried about the tiredness as I'm a very active person.<br /><br />"I know there will be days where I'm just too exhausted and I'll just want to stay in bed all day."<br /><br />If the course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy doesn't work, there is a possibility that more brain surgeries will be needed in the future.
