Bengaluru doctors remove 8kg plus tumor from Odisha man's face

He had been suffering from a rare condition, plexiform neurofibroma, a benign tumor of peripheral nerves since childhood, which grew as he aged.

The tumor was massive, weighing more than 8 kg and was a bulky mass drooping from the right side of his face.

He faced humiliation from several people due to his looks and had visited multiple hospitals earlier for partial resection of the tumor.

However, he was denied surgery as his chance of survival was bleak due to the risk of torrential bleeding.

At a major hospital in Odisha, his case was reviewed, surgery was attempted and was later abandoned due to uncontrolled bleeding.

"In the hope of getting the tumor removed, I had consulted various doctors and visited multiple hospitals but all in vain. I was hesitant and shy to go outdoors due to the tumor. My life had become miserable," Manbodh said.

Manbodh’s condition became his source of misery and he desperately wanted to get rid of it.

His hope soon arrived in the form of a few well-wishers, the Newslions Media Network Pvt Ltd facilitated the treatment along with Milaap through a crowdfunding effort to provide him this life-changing surgery of multiple sittings.

Post this, he visited Aster CMI Hospital in Bengaluru for treatment where his condition was evaluated carefully, and his case subsequently accepted.

"Finally, I came to know about Aster CMI Hospital and consulted the doctors here. They assured me of the best treatment and removal of this tumor," he said.

"Newslions Media Network Pvt Ltd & Milaap crowdfunding platform also came forward to support me. I am elated and no words are enough to express my joy. I am thankful to all the doctors at the hospital who have given me a second chance to live again," Manbodh said.

Manbodh had to undergo 16 different surgical procedures over a period of six months to get rid of the tumor by a team of doctors at Aster CMI.

The huge tumor was on the right side of face, head and neck, and infiltrated into the right orbit and completely engulfed the right eye. This made the surgical removal difficult and risky.

Dr Ravi Gopal Varma, who conducted surgery on Manbodh, said dealing with such highly complex cases often requires different modalities of treatment and a multi-disciplinary approach.

The team, however, was able to remove the tumor and restore the facial bone which was made possible due to the highly skilled doctors, backed by state-of-the-art infrastructure and world-class medical equipment required for safe and secure surgery, he said.

Aster CMI Hospital's Dr Madhusudan said 48 hours after removing the tumor, Manbodh was taken for reconstruction surgery.

Most of his facial skin had to be removed as the tumor was densely adherent, resulting in a large composite skin and soft tissue defect over the entire right half of the face, he said.

The entire reconstruction surgery was done in two stages by using three flaps skin and muscles of both his thighs as well as the right forearm, Dr Madhusudan said.

Milaap Co-founder and President Anoj Vishwanathan said over 8700 donors across the globe helped Manbodh to get the long-awaited treatment.