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Legend played banjo during brain op
A veteran bluegrass legend played banjo while surgeons operated on his brain.
Eddie Adcock, 70, was kept awake to perform while surgeons probed the cause of a hand tremor, reports The Sun.
They gave him only local anaesthetic so they could see the effect of the operation on his playing.
Eddie is famous as a bluegrass virtuoso thanks to his livewire plucking style, but he feared his days as a maestro were over.
However, thanks to the op, filmed by docs at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre near his Nashville home, he is lining up fresh gigs.
Dr Joseph Neimat said: "I knew we would be able to control the tremor. It was returning the dexterity back to his level of play that was really a tall order."
His tremor is now controlled by a pacemaker implanted in his chest, which delivers a jolt of electricity to jam the affected part of his brain.
Eddie said: "It was risky but playing means that much to me. I never went through hell like this. But I couldn't bear giving up the banjo."
Wife Martha, 52, who also plays a mean banjo, was the first to spot his tremor two years ago: "I noticed his skills were not the same."
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3049045.html?menu=
A veteran bluegrass legend played banjo while surgeons operated on his brain.
Eddie Adcock, 70, was kept awake to perform while surgeons probed the cause of a hand tremor, reports The Sun.
They gave him only local anaesthetic so they could see the effect of the operation on his playing.
Eddie is famous as a bluegrass virtuoso thanks to his livewire plucking style, but he feared his days as a maestro were over.
However, thanks to the op, filmed by docs at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre near his Nashville home, he is lining up fresh gigs.
Dr Joseph Neimat said: "I knew we would be able to control the tremor. It was returning the dexterity back to his level of play that was really a tall order."
His tremor is now controlled by a pacemaker implanted in his chest, which delivers a jolt of electricity to jam the affected part of his brain.
Eddie said: "It was risky but playing means that much to me. I never went through hell like this. But I couldn't bear giving up the banjo."
Wife Martha, 52, who also plays a mean banjo, was the first to spot his tremor two years ago: "I noticed his skills were not the same."
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3049045.html?menu=
