Craniotomy

Today I saw someones brain.  It was pulsing with the heart monitor, it was a purple grey color, and had a bright blue vein running across.  It was one of the most incredible sights I've seen.  The procedure started with a incision across the skin of the skull which was then pulled apart to expose the bone.  Then holes were drilled into the skull and then a drill was used to connect the holes.  Once the skull flap was remove, the dura, a protective layer between the skull and the brain, was then retracted.  This exposed the brain.  The purpose of this was to remove a malignant brain tumor where the cancer from her lungs had metastasized to the brain.  The surgeon then proceeded to  remove the tumor.  I could not tell the slightest difference between brain mater and tumor, but when I asked about it later he said that he can tell by how it fells, the color and other indicators that he learned from experience.  It was a very large tumor and took about five hours to completely resect.  One part of the removal process involved a tool that aspirates the tissue using ultrasound waves which, in a way well beyond me, turns the tissue into liquid. Tools like that really show you the crazy and amazing advancements in medicine.      
 
http://drugline.org/medic/term/craniotomy/