An Arizona man’s neck tumor that had been growing for nearly two decades became so large that he had trouble eating, bathing and even turning his head from side to side.
Tim, a 62-year-old man from Scottsdale, had a 5.5-pound tumor growing on the right side of his face and neck.
While the mass started out as “a little pimple next to my ear,” Tim said it continued to grow for 16 years, evolving from a golf ball to a tennis ball.
Over time, it became so large that it began to put pressure on his ear, jaw, neck and throat.
Due to its size, the tumor was distorting Tim’s face, pulling and stretching his ear, jaw, cheek and eye. He had a headache every day and some movements made him feel like his face was ‘torn’.
He could only eat from the left side of his mouth and had resorted to eating standing up, otherwise the growth would hit the table and collide with the food.
Tim, a 62-year-old man from Scottsdale, Arizona, had a 5.5-pound tumor growing on the right side of his face and neck.
Tim often used humor as a “security blanket” and to make people feel more comfortable with him and his growth.
Tim was never able to remove the tumor because he had no health insurance or money to finance the surgery himself.
But when head and neck surgeon Dr Ryan Osborne approached him, Tim was given hope that he could finally live a normal life.
He said on the latest episode of TLC. Take my tumor: ‘Let’s hope that Dr. Osborne is fully capable of eliminating the beast. You have to put your faith in someone and… I give Dr. Osborne the thumbs up to [do his] Magic.
“At the end of the day I just want to be semi-normal and I don’t feel like that often.”
Tim’s tumor first appeared in 2007, when he was 46 years old.
Thinking it was a pimple, he squeezed it to see if it would burst. When nothing happened, Tim moved on.
Then it grew to the size of a pea and he asked another person to try to pop it. Still, nothing happened.
One day, he woke up and he was the size of a bouncing ball: “One day you look in the mirror and say, ‘Oh, it’s gotten bigger.’
When he turned to the Internet for answers, he said all the information added up to a sebaceous cyst, the most common type of skin cyst.
This type of cyst is a painless lump under the skin that grows slowly. It is usually harmless and can appear on the face, neck, scalp, back, or groin area.
The growths are quite common, affecting at least 20 percent of adults. They can form if a sebaceous gland (a microscopic gland connected to hair follicles that secretes an oily or waxy substance) is damaged or blocked.
Most of these cysts will not need treatment and should be left alone and kept clean.
Tim’s growth has been weighed several times, with weights ranging from 4 pounds to almost 6 pounds.
The mechanic was never able to remove the tumor because he had no health insurance or money to pay for the surgery himself.
However, if the growth causes discomfort, the doctor may remove it under local anesthesia.
Over the years, Tim used humor as a defense mechanism and “security blanket” to deal with his “friendly little tumor” and make people feel less uncomfortable with him and his growth.
But the 4 to 6 pound mass still interfered with his life.
The mechanic said he had to lift the tumor over his shoulder to turn his head while driving and that the growth got in the way when he tried to maneuver under cars to repair them.
All of his clothes were stretched to fit over his growth and he often did not get enough sleep, having to position himself on his left side with his right elbow under the tumor to prevent the weight from crushing his neck.
But with the help of Dr. Osborne, Tim was given the opportunity to remove the growth, which a friend nicknamed “Little Timmy.”
So he flew to meet with the surgeon, a Los Angeles-based head and neck surgical oncologist and director of the Osborne Head and Neck Institute.
Although the two had chatted by video before, Dr Osborne said: “To really appreciate the size of this tumor you have to see it in person.”
After examining the growth, the doctor said he suspected the tumor came from Tim’s parotid gland, a gland that produces saliva.
Having tumors in this gland is not uncommon, but they are usually the size of a walnut. One as big as Tim’s is “unusual” and looked more like a watermelon, Dr Osborne said.
While the two had chatted by video before, Dr Osborne said: “To really appreciate the size of this tumor you have to see it in person.”
Dr. Ryan Osborne, a Los Angeles-based head and neck surgical oncologist and director of the Osborne Head and Neck Institute, expressed concern about the nerves running through the tumor.
While the surgeon was comfortable removing the mass, he expressed concern about manipulating the facial nerves that run through it: cutting the wrong one could cause facial paralysis.
Whatever happens, Dr. Osborne would have to cut a large nerve that supplies sensation to the right ear.
After surgery, there was also a chance that Tim would have a large indentation on the side of his face.
Additionally, the doctor told Tim that even if the surgery was successful, it could still take six months before he regained full function and sensation in his face.
While Tim “wasn’t too excited” about being able to have slight deformities in his face, he was still convinced that he wanted the tumor to go away.
However, the most concerning detail Dr. Osborne told Tim was that there was a small chance the mass was cancerous.
While instincts told him it was benign, because it had been growing for so long, there was a chance that the cells had mutated and turned malignant.
Anyway, the tumor had to be removed, and soon, Dr. Osborne said.
Tim said: “It’s the first time anyone has actually said there’s a chance it could be cancerous.” In a way he casts a small shadow over the parade, but there is nothing he can do to change it.
“And to know if there is cancer there, the tumor still has to come out.”
Dr Osborne and his colleague, plastic surgeon Dr Jason Hamilton, operated on Tim’s face and neck for almost five hours.
Tim’s surgery was successful and he retained all facial movement and had no deformities.
Two days later, Dr Osborne and his colleague, plastic surgeon Dr Jason Hamilton, operated on Tim’s face and neck for almost five hours.
During the course of the surgery, Dr. Osborne was able to identify and avoid the major facial nerves. He removed all of the mass and Dr. Hamilton was able to reconstruct Tim’s cheek without any concavity.
Tim woke up still able to smile and move his entire face.
A week later, Dr. Osborne told Tim that pathology was “as good as it gets.”
The tumor was completely benign, with no signs of cancer. The results showed that the growth was “consistent with a benign parotid tumor called a pleomorphic adenoma.”
Pleomorphic adenomas are the most common type of salivary tumor, accounting for 70 to 80 percent of benign salivary gland tumors and are especially common in the parotid gland.
Each year, these growths represent two to 3.5 cases per 100,000 people, the NIH reports.
Since having the tumor removed, Tim can put on his shirts correctly, eat with his whole mouth, drive without lifting the tumor to turn his head, and has not had a headache since the morning of surgery.
The mechanic said it “feels fantastic” to have the tumor gone and he’s ready to move on with his life.
Seven weeks after his surgery, Tim walked out without worrying about people staring or making fun of him and was able to get a real shave for the first time in two decades.
He said: ‘Since the surgery, I feel lighter. I haven’t had any pain. It’s been a lot easier than I expected…he feels fantastic.
‘When the tumor was there, damn, that thing was ugly. It’s good that he’s gone. Sixteen years was enough. Everywhere I go, everyone is very happy for me.”
He can now put on his shirts correctly, eat with his whole mouth, drive without lifting the tumor to turn his head, and has not had a headache since the morning of surgery.
It can also work properly on customers’ cars without the tumor getting in the way.
With the tumor gone, Tim said he can start living his life.
And he added: ‘I have to say now: “I no longer have any tumor. You’re back to normal, so move on in life. Let’s go.”‘
Take my tumor Airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on TLC.