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One for the Books
After living with severe pain for almost a decade, this Brick resident
was surprised to find the source of his problem: a 25-pound tumor!
Thomas Toman, 74, of Brick
had been experiencing stomach
pain and discomfort for many
years. In addition to dealing with
some heart problems, which had
earlier led to the implantation of
a pacemaker, Thomas just lived with
the pain, assuming it was related
to his battle with coronary disease.
"I was told the usual things — eat
better, lose weight; however, the
pain had gotten so bad that I was
having trouble walking, I would get
out of breath, and I wasn’t sleeping
very well," reports Thomas. "So when
I went to my doctor and explained
everything I was experiencing, he
recommended I go for a CT scan
to figure out what was going on."
A CT scan produces a detailed
cross section of the body’s tissue
to show the location and growth
of abnormalities. Thomas’s CT scan
showed an extremely large mass
in his abdomen that would require
immediate evaluation. "I had no
idea this was inside me," says
Thomas. "All this time, I thought
I was just gaining weight!"
A Massive Discovery
Thomas quickly met with Glenn Parker,
M.D., board-certified colon and rectal
surgeon at Jersey Shore University
Medical Center and Ocean Medical
Center, who diagnosed him with
liposarcoma, a cancer that develops
from a body’s fat cells. In Thomas’s case,
the cancer had formed the abnormally
large tumor that was causing, among
other things, his persistent stomach pain.
"Upon viewing Thomas’s test results,
assessing the substantial size of the
tumor, and learning of his existing heart condition, I knew we were
dealing with a delicate situation,"
relates Dr. Parker. "Typically, tumors
are caught earlier and are much
smaller, sometimes even capable
of being treated through non-surgical
or minimally invasive surgical means.
But with Thomas, it was critical for
us to not only move quickly, but to
also respond in a way that would
ensure removal of the tumor, which
was growing increasingly dangerous."
Due to the potential complications
of Thomas’s situation and the abnormal
size of his tumor, one would certainly
understand any apprehension he had.
But Thomas took a different point of view: "I said, ‘Let’s do it,’
because I trusted Dr. Parker
and wanted to get it done and
move on. Not for a moment did
I feel I had to go to New York
or somewhere else to get the
right treatment. I knew Dr. Parker
and his team were the right
people for the job."
Taking a Load Off
Along with a multi-disciplinary
medical and surgical team —
which included Jerome Vernick,
M.D., surgical chair at Jersey
Shore; Catherine Dudick, M.D.,
board-certified critical care
surgeon; and Maurice Weiss, M.D.,
board-certified cardiologist —
Dr. Parker performed Thomas’s
surgery, discovering in the process
that the tumor had grown so large,
it was attached to his kidney,
spleen, and colon. Nevertheless,
together, the surgeons were able
to successfully remove the tumor,
and Thomas is now living cancer free and feeling much better.
"This was really ‘one for the books’ —
one of the largest tumors we’ve seen in
a patient," Dr. Parker states. "Once we
removed it from the body, we found
that it weighed over 25 pounds. You don’t
have to be a doctor to appreciate how
beneficial it is to extricate a 25-pound
mass from a body."
Thomas is the first to confirm those
benefits: "I feel a thousand times better.
I never imagined the pain was the result
of something like this, but I am very
glad that I was able to get it taken
care of so I could get back to enjoying
my life."
 – Michael Valentino
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