Man enduring 30kg tumour to go under the knife tomorrow at a Karachi hospital

A 20-year-old man enduring a 30kg tumour expects to finally breathe a sigh of relief on Wednesday (tomorrow) when a team of doctors will perform the first of his surgeries at the Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK).

Led by eminent surgeon Prof Dr Naushad Shaikh, the surgeons will remove part of the tumour from the leg of the man from the industrial town of Nooriabad in Sindh’s Jamshoro district, after a special medical board comprising general, plastic and orthopaedic surgeons decided to operate on him to save his life, The News learnt on Monday.

Muhammad Essa Pallari is currently admitted in the CHK’s Surgical Unit-I that is headed by Dr Shaikh, who said the patient is afflicted with a rare nerve tumour, plexiform neurofibroma, which has not only rendered him immobile due to its weight of over 30kg, but also put his life in danger.

“The man has a tumour in his right thigh and it has spread to half of his body, needing immediate removal because it has developed an infection.” There can be different causes of such a tumour, but generally it is some genetic disorder, and though they are often benign, due to their rapid growth they can become life-threatening if not removed or treated at the earliest, according to health experts.

The patient’s family has turned down the medical board’s offer to get the tumour removed at any private hospital of the city, saying they have complete confidence in the CHK’s doctors. They hope the young man would be able to walk and live a normal life after the surgery.

After examining the patient, experts from the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, the Liaquat National Hospital, the Patel Hospital and the CHK decided that at least six to seven surgeries would need to be performed on Pallari. “He would undergo the first surgery for the removal of 10kg of redundant tumour on Wednesday,” said Dr Shaikh.

He said that last year the patient had visited another public hospital, where he was admitted for a few weeks, but no surgeon dared remove the tumour. “Disappointed by the doctors’ attitude, his family took him back home, and the tumour continued to grow in weight and size.”

Dr Shaikh estimated that the surgeries would cost approximately Rs10 million. “But we shall not charge the patient anything because we know they cannot afford such expensive procedures.”

Pallari told The News that he is tired of this life and wants to get well soon. “This tumour started as a small mole and grew with the passage of time. Despite getting it examined at different hospitals, nobody took care of it. It’s now or never, because I can’t live with this thing on my body any more.”