The singer who sang through surgery to save her voice: Hypnotised musician sings as she has tumour removed so surgeons could make sure they didn't damage her vocal cords

• Alama Kante was operated on at the Henri Mondor hospital near Paris
• Gilles Dhonneur, head of anaesthesia, carried out the delicate operation
• Ms Kante feared she'd lose her voice if tumour was removed
• She sang two songs from her album during the tricky procedure

Daily Mail (UK) | 16 June 2014

 

A musician who was hypnotised sang as a tumour was removed from her throat so surgeons could make sure they didn't damage her vocal cords. 

Alama Kante, a married mother-of-one, had the operation while listening to a hypnotist at the Henri Mondor hospital in Creteil near Paris. 

Gilles Dhonneur, head of anaesthesia and intensive care departments, carried out the delicate operation in April.

One small slip of his scalpel could have destroyed Miss Kante's voice forever.

Professional singer Alama Kante, a married mother-of-one, sang as a tumour was removed from her throat so surgeons didn't damage her vocal cords

Ms Kante, originally from Guinea, was first given a local anesthetic and then hypnotised by Asmaa Khaled. She then went into a trance and imagined she had travelled to Africa while surgeons removed the tumour

Alama Kante had the operation while listening to a hypnotist at the Henri Mondor hospital in Creteil near Paris

Ms Kante had a parathyroid gland tumour but feared having it removed in case she lost her voice. 

According to Mr Dhonneur, the only way of knowing if her vocal chords had been protected was to get Miss Kante to sing during the procedure. 

She sang two songs from her album Generation Sabbar which is about modern African society and To-long which means 'fight and get what you want'. 

Ms Kante, originally from Guinea, was first given a local anesthetic and then hypnotised by Asmaa Khaled. 

She then went into a trance and imagined she had travelled to Africa.

'Because she was singing during the crictical moments, we could be sure that the operation was going well', said Professor Dhonneur.  

Ms Kante had a parathyroid gland tumour but feared having it removed in case she lost her voice

Ms Kante, who now lives on the outskirts of Paris, said the experience is difficult to explain.

 

She said: 'There was a woman next to me who said, don't worry everything will be fine.

'She asked me to go on a journey and I said okay and she said I was going to Senegal. 

'It's as though I was not in the operating theatre at all, I was far away in Senegal.' 

Despite the hypnosis, Ms Kante said she did feel pain at one point during the operation but when the hypnotist told her it would go, it did. 

According to The Times, Ms Kante has now made a full recovery and hopes to produce a record in UK. 

A DELICATE PROCEDURE WHICH CAN DAMAGE THE VOCAL CORD FOREVER

The parathyroid glands are four tiny glands, located in the neck, that control the body's calcium
levels. 

Each gland is about the size of a grain of rice.

Normal parathyroid glands work like the thermostat in your home to keep blood calcium levels in a very tightly controlled range.

When the blood calcium level is too low, PTH is released to bring the calcium level back up to normal. 

When the calcium level is normal or gets a little too high, normal parathyroids will stop releasing PTH. 

Proper calcium balance is crucial to the normal functioning of the heart, nervous system, kidneys, and bones. 

However, the area where they are found at the base of the neck is tricky to operate on because they are close to blood vessels and nerves. 

One slip and the vocal cord can be permanently paralysed leaving the patient with a husky voice.