Hearing that the doctor has found a tumor in a person’s worst nightmare. Hearing that said tumor is the size of a Buick? Forget about it. Body-Philosophy has searched far and wide to find the largest, meanest, and most mind-boggling tumors known to mankind. We’re talking masses that weigh more than the Olsen twins combined. Oh, and if you’re a squeamish hypochondriac, you may want to skip this one.
The 300 Pound Tumor
Trying to lose weight? Watch this YouTube video before lunch and we guarantee you won’t be hungry. The video shows a 1991 surgery in which the world’s largest intact tumor, a whopping 303-pounder, was removed from an unnamed 34-year-old female patient’s abdomen.
The World’s Largest Tumors
By Erin Donnelly
Published: Thursday, September 13, 2007 – 01:34
The 300 Pound Tumor (Cont’d)
According to Apatheticaphid.wordpress.com, the mass measured three feet in diameter and left on a stretcher after six hours of surgery performed by Professor Katherine O’Hanlan of Stanford University Medical Center in California.
The World’s Largest Tumors
By Erin Donnelly
Published: Thursday, September 13, 2007 – 01:34
Huang Chuncai
China’s Huang Chuncai made international headlines – and earned the nickname “Elephant Man” – when the 31-year-old man had a 33-pound tumor removed from his face earlier this year.
Writes Forbes, “Huang Chuncai’s facial tumor became noticeable when he was 4 years old, the hospital said. It grew bigger and more quickly as he grew older, blocking his left eye, pushing his left ear to shoulder level, knocking out his teeth, and deforming his backbone.”
Not surprisingly, Chuncai had difficulty eating, speaking, and hearing because of the tumor.
The World’s Largest Tumors
By Erin Donnelly
Published: Thursday, September 13, 2007 – 01:34
Lucica Bunghez
It’s not often that a Chicago surgeon – in this case Dr. McKay McKinnon, who also removed Lori Hoogewind’s 200-pound tumor – travels to Romania for a patient. Dr. McKinnon and anesthesiologist Dr. Lynn Kahana made the trip in 2004 to treat Lucica Bunghez, a then-47-year-old Romanian woman with a 176-pound tumor caused by neurofibroma, a disorder that causes tumors to develop on the skin, tissues, and bone. The tumor was wrapped around Bunghez’s body, covering her back and most of her thighs.
According to CBSNews.com, Bunghez weighed just 88 pounds without the tumor, which took eight hours to remove.
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The World’s Largest Tumors
By Erin Donnelly
Published: Thursday, September 13, 2007 – 01:34
Marlie Casseus
In 2005 14-year-old Marlie Casseus made headlines when doctors – who had donated their time – removed a 16-pound facial tumor that had horrifically distorted her features and threatened to make her blind.
According to MSNBC.com, Casseus was born with polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, which causes the bone to become “like a big bowl of jelly with some bone inside,” said Dr. Jesus Gomez of the University of Miami School of Medicine, one of the doctors involved in the operation.
“She was treated like an animal,” Dr. Gomez said of Casseus’s experience growing up in Haiti. “If she was walking on a sidewalk, people would cross the street. If they tried to stop a taxi, it would keep going.”
The World’s Largest Tumors
By Erin Donnelly
Published: Thursday, September 13, 2007 – 01:34
Lori Hoogewind
What does it take to get on Oprah? Apparently a 200-pound tumor. Lori Woogewind appeared on the show to talk about the massive tumor that had been growing inside her.
Once a slim 120 pounds, Lori’s weight ballooned to more than 300 pounds in just a year. Doctors at the University of Chicago Hospitals discovered that the cause of the weight gain was an enormous 200-pound (and still growing) tumor attached to Lori’s abdomen.
The tumor was a result of a genetic disorder called neurofibromatosis, which had caused Lori to develop minor benign growths over the course of her life. These small tumors had been easily removable, until 1998, when the large malignant mass made itself known. The tumor kept growing despite radiation, leaving Lori with the sole option of a life-threatening, 18-hour surgery.
Though she lost 50 pounds of blood during the procedure, Lori is now healthy and tumor-free.
“Well, we were just really blessed, and we were also fortunate to find someone who was willing to take the risk,” Lori told Oprah.
The World’s Largest Tumors
By Erin Donnelly
Published: Thursday, September 13, 2007 – 01:34
Grace Radtke
In 2004 Ohio resident Grace Radtke had the mother of all ovarian cysts removed – a 66-pound whopper “the size of three watermelons,” NBC11.com reports. The tumor, which had wedged itself under Radtke’s ribs, took four people to lift.
Strangely, whereas in other cases large tumors cause patients to experience a dramatic weight gain, 300-pound Radtke actually lost weight, which made her go to the doctor.
“It didn’t feel normal,” Radtke told FoxNews.com. “It was like a long pregnancy.”
The World’s Largest Tumors
By Erin Donnelly
Published: Thursday, September 13, 2007 – 01:34
Kayla Hilton
Imagine having Nicole Richie strapped to your abdomen, and you might understand what it was like for 32-year-old Oklahoman Kayla Hilton to walk around with a 93-pound ovarian cyst. Hilton had the fluid-filled cyst removed earlier this year, MSNBC.com reports.
“I feel lighter and happy to heal, to get better and be able to get around,” Hilton said.
It took years for doctors to finally diagnose the cyst that had triggered a massive weight gain for Hilton, who weighed more than 500 pounds.
The World’s Largest Tumors
By Erin Donnelly
Published: Thursday, September 13, 2007 – 01:34
John Lee Johnson
The story of John Lee Johnson reflects that these massive tumors can indeed be fatal. Last year Johnson, a noted civil rights activist from Illinois, passed away three months after surgery to remove a large 37-pound tumor from his abdomen, News-Gazette.com reports. The paper also reported that Johnson’s tumor is believed to be the second-largest soft-tissue liposarcoma on record.
The World’s Largest Tumors
By Erin Donnelly
Published: Thursday, September 13, 2007 – 01:34
Mona Lisa Howell
When 14-year-old Mona Lisa Howell’s stomach suddenly ballooned up in 2002, her family feared that the Indiana teen was pregnant, Local6.com reports. Once doctors ruled that out, they diagnosed her as obese and in need of a diet. It wasn’t until yet another doctor ordered an ultrasound and CAT scan that the real culprit was determined. Mona Lisa has a 37-pound cyst on her ovaries.
Doctors were able to remove the cyst, which was “the size of a beach ball.” Side note to any pregnant teens out there: We don’t think Mom and Dad will buy this as an excuse.
The World’s Largest Tumors
By Erin Donnelly
Published: Thursday, September 13, 2007 – 01:34
Madison the Pig
It’s not just humans who fall victim to giant tumors. Madison the potbellied pig – who, being a pig, was already a little chubby – was discovered to have an 80-pound tumor, PigPalSanctuary.com reports. The tumor was successfully removed and the 170-pound Madison shrank down to a svelte 90 pounds.
The World’s Largest Tumors
By Erin Donnelly
Published: Thursday, September 13, 2007 – 01:34
The 84-Pound Tumor
According to Stiffs.com, in 1997 Hungarian doctors removed a tumor weighing 84 pounds from a man’s abdomen. The site sources Hungarian news agency MTI, which reported that the tumor was discovered after the man experienced a sudden weight gain.
Nicole Shorland
Hearing Nicole Shorland’s story may stop you from ever asking a woman if she’s pregnant again. Shorland told The Daily Mail that a co-worker asked when she was due after noticing her swollen belly. The only problem – it was a 22-pound cyst, not a baby.
Even Shorland’s doctor was convinced that the bulge was due to pregnancy, saying “I’ve got a woman who’s eight months pregnant and she’s in denial.” An ultrasound revealed the cyst, which was later removed.