A Slovakian man is preparing to undergo surgery to remove the remainder of a 14-pound face tumor that's haunted him for nearly three decades, according to the Daily Mirror.
Stefan Zoleik was diagnosed with a rare condition called Madelung disease that causes fat cells to grow uncontrollably in his face. The tumor, resembling a massive skin-pouch hanging from the chin, has caused him years of ridicule and pain until 2014, when doctors performed a surgery to remove the growth.
Now, the 47-year-old is to go under the knife again to have the rest of the tumor removed.
"Since that surgery my life has changed incredibly. I don't know why it wasn't possible for it to be done earlier but I'm just grateful that it has been done now," Zoleik, from the village of Stiavnik, said according to the Mirror.
The former car mechanic began noticing sings of the condition in his early 20s when his jaw started growing. The tumor grew from ear to ear and swelled out from his face, subjecting him to public ridicule.
So he locked himself away from the world and became dependent on his friends and family, the newspaper reported.
Doctors finally agreed to help Zoleik, and the growth was removed after a five-hour surgery at the University Hospital in the northern Slovakia town of Martin.
While the surgery has changed Zoleik's life for the better, doctors said he will still need reconstructive surgery to repair the damage, the Mirror reported.
"Even after surgery there will be cells that have kept on growing and we now need to operate to remove those as well in order to fix it," said University Hospital plastic surgeon Igor Homola.
Zoleik said he would not have been able to get through the entire ordeal if it wasn't for his wife and children.
"They supported me both before and after the surgery, and are my rock that also gave me the strength to recover."
