Video: Doctor and patient jam before surgery
GLENDALE, Calif. -- Urologist William Sloan brought bedside manner to a new octave when he comforted a professional musician awaiting surgery by making music with him in the weeks and even minutes leading up to his procedure, CBS Los Angeles reports.
Sergio Vigilato was understandably nervous until Dr. Sloan told him "Sergio, don't worry. Your body is like a fine instrument. I'll tune it," Vigilato recalled, according to the station.
Sloan told him that if he didn't bring his guitar to surgery at Glendale Memorial Hospital, it would be canceled. And just minutes before surgery, Sloan and Vigilato jammed out.
Sloan said he'd never done that before.
"Never, I never had a patient that could play in the operating room," he told CBS Los Angeles.
They had been practicing. Brian Gold, director of surgery, even shot cellphone video of the men playing weeks before.
"It happened literally in the gurney, in the pre-op area, and even he went on that same gurney into the OR," Gold said.
Vigilato even managed to kick his fear of hospitals.
"Believe me, it's a happy place," he said.
Vigilato hopes to return to the hospital soon. Not for more surgery, but to play music for other patients.