People ask the same thing after watching the man remove a huge tumor: health

Warning: This article contains graphic images and descriptions that some readers may find distressing.

A man has heartbreakingly told how he ‘felt like a monster’ and subsequently became a recluse while living with a huge tumor on the back of his head.

For more than a decade, Arlin, from California, lived with the “cantaloupe-sized” growth that kept growing, watching him hide from the world because he felt so self-conscious about it.

He dropped out of school as a teenager to escape the cruel taunts of bullies, while cutting ties with his friends because of the shame he felt from leaking fluid, blood and pus.

He also smelled so foul that one of his nurses almost passed out, but unfortunately for Arlin, he couldn’t find a doctor who could help him and he had no health insurance to fund his treatment.

As a result, he spent more than ten years in hiding.

That was until the 33-year-old met head and neck specialist Dr. Ryan Osborne, who completely changed Arlin’s life with his experience, leaving TLC viewers. Take my tumor reaching for the tissues while tuning.

Arlin had a tumor ‘the size of a cantaloupe’ on the back of her head for more than a decade (TLC)

The tumor is the result of a condition called hidradenitis suppurativa, which the NHS describes as a “long-term, painful skin condition that causes skin abscesses and skin scarring”.

Its symptoms vary, but it causes a mix of boil-like lumps, blackheads, cysts, scars and channels in the skin that leak pus, which usually appear near hair follicles where sweat glands are located.

This turned out to be a nightmare for Arlin in particular, as he also suffers from anhidrosis, which is a rare condition that prevents the sweat glands from producing sweat, so he had to wear a fan around his neck to cool off.

He also told Dr. Osborne that his growth would routinely leak fluid, so he was forced to wear towels around his neck to protect his clothes, while also disguising the knot under a hat.

The 33-year-old had visited numerous doctors but found none willing to remove the growth (TLC)

In the episode that originally aired in May this year, the doctor was seen taking a closer look at the huge mass at the back of his patient’s head, as he detailed his plan to action to get rid of it.

The surgeon explained: “The first phase is to get it over with, because this is quite big and it’s a lot of weight, at some point you’re going to have problems in the cervical spine.

“Your head is constantly leaning forward, we have to straighten it. The first leg of this race is to get it out.

“That’s going to be a big chunk of skin coming off the back of the scalp and neck. We can’t leave it raw back there, it’s too big an area and it’s going to get infected.”

To avoid this problem, he explained that they would take a skin graft from Arlin’s stomach before transplanting it to the back of his head to take the place of the tumor, which he warned would require “a lot” of stitches.

There was also no guarantee the surgery would be successful, but the 33-year-old said he “can’t wait” to have it, adding he was “confident” Dr Osborne would be able to carry it out.

But as I look at Arlin’s story take my tumor viewers couldn’t help but ponder one thing… “why had he waited so long” to get rid of the huge growth.

Dr. Ryan Osborne did an amazing job on Arlin (TLC)

And luckily, Arlin’s mom, Jaqueline, answered that question for the curious.

He revealed the family couldn’t afford any specialist treatment, telling the cameras: ‘It’s not like we wanted him to get that big, but we couldn’t get the help we needed and so he grew.

“It’s hard to see someone you love in pain or go through what they’re going through. They could die. What’s at stake right now is their life.”

Incredibly, Arlin’s surgery went off without a hitch, although Dr Osborne described it as a ‘sanitary mess’.

Dr Osborne explained that the skin graft had “borrowed 85 per cent”, which was brilliant, especially given that the wound “is not a flat surface” and has “a lot of nooks and crannies “.

Arlin was delighted with the results and explained that he had been “much better” since the operation.

“I’ve been having more energy, less pain, less depression,” she smiled. “The surgery has been a huge life changer for me.

“It’s such a relief to not have to be in a lot of pain or have to worry about fluid getting on my shirts or anything, having to wear caps. When my head is completely healed, I want to start doing more .

“Go back to school, get a job. I’m really looking forward to healing this completely and finally getting it over with.”

You can tell the viewers were absolutely ecstatic for him too.

One said: “His face says a lot. It’s like you can see his mind processing that this is going to become a reality.”

Another wrote: “I’m so happy for him. He has a new life. Great job Dr.”

While someone else commented: “Wow, look at the smile on his face! He deserves it. I’m so glad the doctor can help him.”