A 20-pound bony tumor was filling part of Hector's chest and crushing his left lung. If surgeons couldn't remove it, and fast, he would suffocate under its weight

摘要

One of my junior surgical partners, scott, called me from the clinic downstairs. "Hey, would you mind coming down?" he asked. "I haven't seen anything like this before." I had never heard Scott so anxious, and told him I would be right there. He met me at the exam room door, wide-eyed, holding the patient's chart in one hand and nervously slapping it into his other palm. "This is wild," he murmured. "A 40-year-old man with bony masses in several areas of his body-hips, face, everywhere. He has one in his chest that we might need to deal with, and soon. This guy is literally suffocating".