A Florida guitarist played 1980s and ‘90s rock music while undergoing open brain surgery, WSVN Miami reported

The man, Christian Nolen, is a professional guitarist

He recently lost feeling in the right side of his body, leading doctors to discover a glioma – a type of tumor – in his brain

The tumor affected Nolen’s frontal lobe, which, among other things, controls movement

Doctors scheduled Nolen for an awake craniotomy, a type of brain surgery that requires patients to be awake for parts of it

The surgery is intended to analyze tumors and remove as much of them as possible

The cancer center that operated on Nolen does 200+ such operations annually, WSVN reported

Ahead of the surgery, doctors approached Nolen with an odd request: To play the guitar during the operation

During awake craniotomies, doctors request that patients perform tasks so doctors can monitor their cognitive and motor abilities

“I felt like it was such a unique experience that I couldn’t pass up – especially with my motor skills being on the line,” Nolen said, adding that doctors specifically requested he play the guitar

Doctors sedated Nolen for the first two hours of the procedure then woke him up for the final portion

“It was just like out of this world, like, to just like wake up and like have people actively working inside of your head,” Nolen said to WSVN Miami. “It’s kind of an insane feeling”

After calming himself down, he began to play songs by the Deftones and System of a Down

“This is wild,” Nolen reportedly said during the procedure

The operation was successful, with doctors removing all of his tumor and hospital officials discharging him the next day

He will now likely undergo chemotherapy and radiation therapy to kill remaining cancer cells

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