Houston hospital live tweets successful brain surgery
Doctors were careful to issue a stern warning: 'The contents of this #brain #surgery may be GRAPHIC in NATURE.' They weren't lying.
People are willing to tweet just about anything -- in 2009, Erykah Badu famously tweeted away during labor, and just this past month, the National Zoo live-tweeted the artificial insemination of a giant panda.
So it should come as no surprise that earlier today folks at the Houston-based Memorial Hermann Hospital live-tweeted via the handle @houstonhospital the "rabid play-by-play" of the removal of a tumor from a 21-year-old woman's brain.
The procedure spanned several hours and resulted in dozens of tweets, video uploads on YouTube, and a dizzying array of graphic photos via Twitter and Pinterest.
Dr. Dong Kim, already known for his work as Gabrielle Giffords' neurosurgeon, performed this morning's successful surgery, and said the live tweeting serves an educational purpose. Only a few weeks ago the hospital live-tweeted open-heart surgery, garnering a reported 125 million views via Twitter and other outlets.
Kim's colleague, brain tumor specialist Dr. Scott Shepard, was on hand to respond to questions online throughout the procedure, which covered prep, removal of the bone flap, removal of the tumor, and closing of the site.
The entire surgery can be viewed chronologically via Storify. The patient appears well; one of the final tweets included a quote from Dr. Kim: "We had a nice conversation and she looks great!"