VietNamNet Bridge – The operation to cut off the 1m wide tumor for Nguyen Van Hai, 31, from Da Lat city, is scheduled on November 18.

Da Lat: Young man carries 80kg tumor for ten years


Hai and his mother.

Doctor Le Hoang Minh, director of the HCM City Tumor Hospital, said that the operation is scheduled to take place within 10-12 hours. The entire tumor will be cut off.

Minh said that five American experts, led by Associate Professor McKay Mc Kinnon, will be in charge of the surgery. There experts are experienced at dealing with huge tumors.

Doctors said that the operation would be very difficult since the tumor is huge. “Hai was hospitalized in July. At that time, the tumor was 80kg. It is now up to 90kg,” said doctor Bui Chi Viet, from the HCM City Tumor Hospital.

Viet said that the tumor is big while the patient’s health is not good, so the biggest difficulty is antiseptic task and choosing appropriate antibiotic medicines.



Cardiovascular experts worried about Hai’s resistance. “Hai suffers from heart disease. It is difficult for him to sustain a 10-hour operation,” a doctor said.

Controlling blood vessels to prevent losing blood is also a matter.

Hai will be moved to HCM City on November 10 to prepare for the operation.



For the past 4 years, Hai has been living in the central highland town of Da Lat and unable to move, enduring excruciating pain. Fourteen years ago his tumor, then 25 kilograms, was operated upon and removed at the Lam Dong General Hospital, but it recurred again and continued to grow to its present weight of 80 kilograms and 107 cm long, 90 cm wide and 20 cm thick.

After local media released pictures of Hai’s tumor, a team of doctors from HCMC Tumor Hospital led by Doctor Minh examined Hai at his house in Da Lat.

According to doctors, Hai is suffering from a rare genetic disease called Von Reckling Hausen, which affects one out of every 3,500 people worldwide. This form of genetic disorder causes nerve tissues to grow into tumors.

PV