Man gets rid of 12-kg tumour a second time

50-yr-old Thane resident went under the knife to cure a rare abdominal tumour, unreported in medical history until last month, which made him 'look pregnant'

After two major surgeries, 50-year-old Rajaram Makdum, a Thane resident, has finally got rid of the strange appearance that had made him diffident. Six months ago, he was cured of a rare abdominal tumour, weighing 12 kg, which in the words of this father of two, made him look like a woman six months into pregnancy.


Uncommon man: Rajaram Makdum's rare tumour, which had reappeared,
was removed from his abdomen at JJ hospital six months ago. Last month,
his surgeon wrote about it in an Italian medical journal

In 1998, Makdum was diagnosed of a rare slow growing tumour that develops in the retroperitoneal cavity of the abdomen.

"I could not digest food. I always felt breathless, and couldn't even climb the staircase. My diet was reduced from six chapattis to half of one, and my abdomen remained swollen," recalled Makdum.

The same year, he was operated for the tumour at Tata Hospital, a surgery that relieved him of the tumour.

Sore comeback
But a few years later, an equally heavy burden was to weigh him down, again. He was utterly miserable when he started vomiting and getting breathless constantly.

The swelling in the area of his stomach was back, and like before, it caused him much agony. Finally, last year, he paid JJ hospital a visit, where his medical condition shocked even the team of surgeons.

After a series of investigations, doctors finally came to the conclusion that Makdum was suffering from a rare medical condition, which had not till then been reported in medical literature. It has been described as a 'giant recurrent retroperitoneal liposarcoma presenting as a recurrent inguinal hernia'.

Professor of Surgery at JJ hospital, Dr A Bhandarwar, who headed the team of surgeons that operated on Makdum, said, "We initially suspected that it was a recurrent hernia. But it was actually the tumour, which had re-grown and presented itself like a hernia. We operated upon the patients and removed a 12 kilogram tumour."

Last month, Dr Bhandarwar co-authored a paper with Girish Bakhshi, Ashok Borisa, Sachin Shenoy, Channabasappa Kori, Sameer Vora in an Italian medical journal, Clinics and Practice, about the tumour unique
enough, in their reckoning, to merit an entry in the medical annals.

"I never thought that my condition could be so rare. Doctors told me this was the first time they had seen a case like mine. This problem has made me sell my house," said Makdum, shorn of a professional life because of
the ailment, and forced to move to a rented house.