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Although he did not drink beer, Hector Hernandez thought that he had a belly of beer for several years. According to a press release from the University of Southern California (USC), it was only when his arms began to dissipate and that his friends and family suggested he see a doctor that his bulging belly resulted from a cancerous tumor. .
More specifically, according to the Mayo Clinic, a retroperitoneal liposarcoma, a type of cancer that forms in the fat cells of a person, has been diagnosed in Hernandez.
"I was losing weight on my arms, my face, all over my stomach," Hernandez told INSIDER. "And I was diabetic and I had high blood pressure too." In addition to his health problems, Hernandez said he struggled to perform normal tasks, such as tying his shoes or putting on his pants.
Hernandez underwent surgery to remove the tumor
Liposarcomas can be removed in different ways, including chemotherapy, but the majority, including that of Hernandez, are removed surgically, according to the National Rare Diseases Organization. Hernandez's tumor weighed 77 pounds and took six hours to remove, says the USC press release.
With a tumor of this size, surgical complications can include excessive bleeding, infections, and organ failure, said Dr. William Tseng, Hernandez surgeon and internationally renowned sarcoma specialist, at INSIDER. "Often, to get them out, we have to harvest adjacent organs, not just the tumor," Tseng said.
For Hernandez, this also involved taking a kidney, but all cases are different, Tseng noted.
Liposarcomas can be difficult to detect on your own
Hernandez is not the first person to confuse an oversized mass when it was something more. In December 2017, Kevin Daly learned that he was suffering from liposarcoma after losing 14 kg and that he was still hungry, already reported INSIDER.
In addition to the inability to lose abdominal mass, other signs of sarcoma on the lips include abdominal pain and swelling, feeling fuller than usual when eating, constipation and blood in the stool of the affected person, according to the Mayo Clinic.
"It's important that patients know the early signs of the disease, such as tiredness, unexpected weight loss, chronic pain, lack of appetite and, for sure, your body if you see something d?" asymmetric or poorly positioned, "said Julio Teixeira, Daly's surgeon. INSIDER in a previous interview.
Read more: The 11 most common cancers in the United States
In the case of Daly, it took a CT scan to allow doctors to be aware of the presence of a tumor after others attributed to it its belly fat to a decrease in testosterone levels associated with age, reported IDIDER.
If you notice the symptoms mentioned above, you should immediately consult your health care provider and vouch for your health. "Looking back, I would have liked to go faster," Hernandez told INSIDER. Now that the tumor has been removed, Hernandez has stated that he does not have diabetes.
To help cover the costs of surgery, Hernandez's friend has created a GoFundMe page where people can donate and offer words of encouragement after the surgery.
Follow-up appointments are essential, even if the liposarcoma has been completely removed during surgery
The quality of life of patients will increase immediately after removal of the tumor. But Tseng told INSIDER that it was important to have regular CT exams to make sure that growth would not come back.
"He is likely to return to the same place and then they can become more aggressive and spread," he said.
To ensure your body stays healthy and without liposarcoma, Tseng recommended that patients undergo health exams every two or three months, the first two or three years after surgery. After that, exams can be done every six months to a year.
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