Kira Iaconetti, 19, has been a musician most of her life, singing and performing in musicals since she was six years old. But four years ago, she started experiencing strange episodes while singing or listening to music. “It was like a light switch turned off in my brain,” she said in an interview with Seattle Children’s Hospital. “Suddenly, I was tone deaf, I couldn’t process the words in time with the music and I couldn’t sing.” The episodes eventually progressed to the point where she said she “would become incoherent, slurring and stuttering” — which is when she revisited a neurologist she had previously seen.
After conducting an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), doctors at Seattle Children’s determined the cause: a benign brain tumor and a rare form of epilepsy called musicogenic epilepsy. “These seizures are triggered by listening to music or singing, which is an unfortunate problem for Kira since she is a performer who likes to sing,” Dr. Jason Hauptman, Kira’s neurosurgeon said in an interview with the hospital.
That “unfortunate problem” led to a very unique solution: Kira underwent brain surgery to have the tumor removed — and remained awake and singing during the procedure to ensure it didn’t affect her musical talents. “In a sort of twisted joke from the universe the tumor was right inside the area of my brain that controls my hearing and singing ability,” Kira said. “Messing with it could permanently affect my voice, and because Dr. Hauptman knew how important it is to me to continue singing and acting, he wanted to be very careful when removing the tumor. He didn’t want to interfere with my ability to sing.”
