Beer belly turns out to be a 30-POUND tumor in a man’s abdomen

A man who thought he had a beer belly has been diagnosed with a 30lb abdominal tumor.

Kevin Daly, 63, became suspicious of his large stomach after he lost 34 pounds but his pot belly stuck around. 

In December, the 6’3″ financial planner from Hoboken, New Jersey, convinced his doctor to do a CAT scan that revealed a cancerous tumor the size of a beach ball taking up most of his abdomen.

If he hadn’t acted on his suspicion, the mass could have killed him within months.

 

Doctors at Lenox Hill Hospital removed a 30lb tumor from a man’s abdomen in December

Kevin Daly, 63, a financial planner from Hoboken, New Jersey, is pictured with what doctors thought was a beer belly

Daly is pictured after his 30lb tumor was removed

Kevin Daly, 63, a financial planner from Hoboken, New Jersey, is pictured left with what doctors thought was a beer belly and right after his 30lb tumor was removed

The tumor was identified as a cancer called liposarcoma that had likely been growing for 10 to 15 years but luckily hadn’t spread to any other area of Daly’s body.

Liposarcoma starts in fat cells typically in the abdomen, arms or legs and often resembles fatty tissue when looked at under a microscope.

It’s unusual for any type of tumor to grow as large as Daly’s because they’re normally detected earlier because they cause other problems in the body.

Even though he’s not a beer drinker, Daly had had what others assumed to be a beer belly for several years.

After his dramatic weight loss following heart surgery in 2015 failed to reduce any of the weight around his stomach, Daly and his wife Rachelle began to wonder if something else was causing his paunch.

‘I thought they literally left stuffing and tools in me from surgery,’ the financial planner from Hoboken, New Jersey, told the Daily News.  

Despite objections from his insurance company who thought a scan was unnecessary, Daly went to Lenox Hill Hospital for a scan that revealed what doctors thought was a 12lb mass growing in his abdomen. 

Daly said the discovery left him feeling ‘vindicated and scared’. 

The dark gray central area of the scans above show the tumor inside of Daly's abdomen

The dark gray central area of the scans above show the tumor inside of Daly’s abdomen

The tumor, identified as a cancer called liposarcoma, had likely been growing for 10 to 15 years

The tumor, identified as a cancer called liposarcoma, had likely been growing for 10 to 15 years

Liposarcoma tumors can lead to abdominal pain and swelling, constipation, blood in stool and feeling fuller sooner when eating.

‘Although these tumors are large and malignant, they grow slowly and tend to not metastasize,’ Daly’s surgeon Dr Julio Teixeira told CBS. ‘Often there’s a very good prognosis.’

It took doctors six hours to remove the mass that had displaced several of Daly’s organs, including his descending colon, which had been pushed several inches upward under his sternum.

They also had to remove one of his kidneys because the tumor had wrapped itself around it. 

Going forward he’ll be monitored with regular MRIs to ensure the tumor doesn’t return. 

Two months later Daly says he’s doing well and is back down to his college weight at 187lbs.

‘I dodged a couple of bullets,’ he told CBS. 

He appeared on NBC’s Megyn Kelly Today in February with wife Rachelle.

Daly and his wife Rachelle were featured on NBC's Megyn Kelly Today in February

Daly and his wife Rachelle were featured on NBC’s Megyn Kelly Today in February



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk