Everyone thought that he had a beer belly, but it turned out to be a 77-pound cancerous tumor

For months, the Californian Hector Hernandez has seen his belly grow and grow to the point of preventing him from bending over to tie his shoes. But what everyone attributed to the belly of a "brewer" turned out to be an aggressive tumor weighing 77 kilos, the biggest one his doctors had ever seen.

"I thought he was fat, I've always been a big guy," says Hernandez in the New York Times about this year and a half that he lived without knowing the true cause of his so-called fat, just when he heard all sorts of comments .

One day, in a warehouse, a man approaching him, grabbed his stomach and told him not to drink because it was not good for him. "I just laughed and told him I was not drinking" he tells Times.

He did not eat too much either, but he tried a herbal diet to see if I managed to lower my belly. Everything was in vain. Soon, this looked like a "beach ball" that bothered him even when he sat down to work at his desk.

The 47-year-old was suffering from constipation, heartburn and shortness of breath at that time. He therefore decided to consult a doctor who had replied that "some people were simply gaining weight in different ways" . But as his stomach was still heavy and firm to the touch, he decided to ask for a second opinion.

He had never imagined what the diagnosis would be: liposarcoma, a strange form of cancer that comes from fat cells and that had turned into a giant tumor in his abdomen .

77 pounds, "the biggest thing I saw," Tseng said in an interview with the New York Times, stating that these tumors usually weigh between 20 and 30 pounds .

He was so good that he "swallowed" one of Hernandez's kidneys that had to be removed during the six-hour operation. The good news is that the tumor has not spread to other organs.

But it is very likely that sarcoma will return even more aggressively. Doctors have not yet understood why this type of tumor is original, how to prevent it and the only solution to cure it is surgery.

Hernandez is currently recovering and raising funds to fund his medical expenses through a GoFundMe campaign.

Stay positive: "I feel good, I think I should become stronger" he exclaims.

Liposarcomas do not appear only in the belly. They can also form behind the knee or thigh and, less frequently, in the neck, vulva or underarms.

They are very rare. Its incidence is 1 per 100,000 people and generally affects adults aged 40 to 60 years.

Like Hernandez, the majority of patients with liposarcoma do not feel sick . The tumor (which can be firm or soft to the touch) is not painful. A physical exam is the first step to diagnose it.