Man finally overcomes ‘obstacle’ that was stopping his ‘watermelon-sized’ facial tumour being removed

A man with a tumour the size of a ‘watermelon’ hanging from the side of his face has expressed his relief at finally being able to overcome the ‘obstacles’ that were preventing him from having it removed.

Tim is a patient on TLC programme Take My Tumour, which follows Dr Osborne helping patients across the world with their growths.

In a preview for an upcoming episode, the patient explains how his daily life is challenged by the mass on the side of his face, which has ‘mutated’ from his ear, and reveals how he wasn’t able to seek help before due to financial barries.

However, as part of the programme, he’s now finally able to get help, and despite the dangers of the surgery, is willing to take the risk.

Tim introduces his growth as a ‘friendly little tumour’ describing how his blood vessels and cartilage are ‘intertwined’ in a ‘dead mass’ on his face.

He says: ‘It started as a little pimple by my ear in 2007, I tried to squeeze it, obviously it didn’t break, and then when it was the size of a pea, I tried squeezing it some more and had somebody else try and it wouldn’t break, and then one morning I woke up and it was about the size of a small superball.’

Tim was told ‘not to worry’ because people thought it was just a cyst, but he would look in the mirror to find it was bigger and ‘continuously kept getting larger and larger’.

Tim has a tumour hanging from the side of his face (Picture: TLC)

It’s been growing for decades (Picture: TLC)

It’s now the size of a watermelon, Dr Osborne says.

‘And it’s still stretching,’ Tim adds.

He goes on to explain how ‘grimy’ the tumour can get, especially with his work involving fixing cars, and how he wipes it down with a sponge so he can hold it and wash it.

‘I keep it clean, because one of my concerns has been getting open sores or something, from the friction of it bouncing around, rubbing on my neck, it’s just dead weight moving around,’ he says.

‘But it’s not fun because all this side of my head, my eye, it pulls from my back shoulder, everything this way, and that’s where I get all my tension headaches from.’

Tim has had a headache everyday since the tumour began to grow, which can be ‘extremely tight’.

His earlobe has also ‘mutated’ into it, pulling down one side of his face and head.

‘Depending on what I’m doing and how much movement I have, is how bad my headaches get,’ he says.

‘It’s very painful, and there are times when I’ve moved and you feel like something is moving or ripping.’

Tim then heartbreakingly explains why he hasn’t been able to have it removed, saying the ‘biggest obstacle’ that has left the tumour ‘stuck on my face for this long’ is because he didn’t have any insurance and he doesn’t have ‘a bunch of money’.

Tim is finally able to overcome the financial obstacles that were stopping him having it removed (Picture: TLC)

He’s sharing his story on TLC reality programme Take My Tumor (Picture: TLC)

Dr Osborne’s group though asked Tim if he would like it removed, with the patient saying they were the first to do so.

And he’s finally about to get the help he needs, with the Take My Tumour professional examining the growth, before raising his suspicions that it’s coming from Tim’s parotid gland, which produces saliva.

‘Having tumours or masses in the parotid gland is not really that unusual, but having one that size, very unusual,’ Dr Osborne says.

‘I would say the average size when someone walks in through my door with a parotid gland mass is probably like a walnut. Tim’s looks like a watermelon.’

Dr Osborne is wary of the risks involved in the surgery, which could result in facial paralysis (Picture: TLC)

He later tells Tim that the surgery could risk facial nerve damage, which could cause facial paralysis, but the patient is insistent he wants it removed.

After hearing the dangers of the surgery, and expressing his concerns after his muscles have been ‘displaced’, which could effect facial movement and even leave him unable to moveT one side of his face for six months,  Tim heartbreakingly admits: ‘What am I going to do?’

After stressing to Dr Osborne that he doesn’t think he has any other option, Tim adds to the camera: ‘About the paralysis, it’s not like I’m overly thrilled, I would like to not have any obviously but if there’s some, there’s some, but I just want to get it removed.’

Take My Tumor airs Wednesdays on TLC in America.

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