China's Elephant Man

Shanghai Expat Forum Index » Community Discussion Forums » News and Opinion

Author

Message

findus

Veejay

Joined: Feb 03, 2004
Posts: 1829

Status: Offline

Posted: Jan 08, 2008 - 04:01 PM
Post subject: China's Elephant Man

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/07/2133371.htm

Quote:

China's 'Elephant Man' to go under knife

Posted Mon Jan 7, 2008 4:34pm AEDT

A Chinese man with a massive tumour on his face that has forced him to live as a recluse hopes a second round of surgery today will bring him closer to leading a normal life.

Huang Chuancai, known as China's "Elephant Man", is said to suffer from the world's most extreme case of elephantiasis of the face.

The 32-year-old's tumour weighed 15 kilograms before an initial operation in July and had deformed his backbone, stunting his growth.

Mr Huang's family struggles to earn a living on arid farmland and could not afford treatment until the Fuda Hospital, in southern China, offered to help.

The "Elephant Man" from Hunan province could hardly speak before then because his tumour was so big.

The crippling mass drooping from his head and face had totally covered his left eye, while his left ear hung down to his shoulder, and his right ear and jaw were engulfed by the tumour.

Mr Huang's condition has ostracised him from society - bullying from his classmates forced him to leave school when he was 10 years old.

He says he was even approached several years ago by someone who wished to buy him and display him as part of a circus freak show.

But hopes are high that Mr Huang will be a step closer to being cured when he undergoes the second operation today at the hospital in Guangzhou, the capital of prosperous Guangdong province.

"I hope that when my illness is cured, I can go back home and have a nice spring festival with my family," he said.

Challenges

The first stage of surgery was complicated by the large number of blood vessels inside the tumour, which could have caused Mr Huang to bleed to death.

Chief surgeon Dr Liu Lizhi says today's operation is not as risky but it is challenging.

"Compared to his first operation, the second one has some new issues," he said.

"The main problem is the tumour is close to his ear, and his ear has already been invaded and extended by it.

"So we will try to cut the tumour while keeping his ear and reconstruct it after the operation."

Dr Liu says the patient's mouth has also been enlarged by the tumour and will have to be fixed after the mass is removed.

But the surgeon is confident about the operation and hopes its success could fulfil Mr Huang's dreams of becoming a "normal" man.

"If the operation is successful, his body will be relieved of a large burden and in this sense, his chances of being cured will be very big," he said.

"Most importantly, after the operation, Mr Huang's body will return to normal, including his heart, lung and spine.

"We hope that after that, Mr Huang can basically lead the life of a normal person."

Fuda Hospital has successfully operated on two patients with facial tumours in the past.