80-pound growth successfully removed from scrotum

ORANGE, Calif. (KABC) -- A Michigan man is recovering a week after doctors in Orange successfully performed a dangerous surgery to remove an 80-pound growth from his scrotum.

Michigan resident Dan Maurer, 39, flew across the country to have the surgery. He noticed his scrotum was getting extremely large about seven years ago. It became impossible for him to walk more than a few feet a time.

Doctors determined that he had a rare condition called scrotal lymphedema. The condition is believed to be caused by blocked vessels in the lymphatic system that fail to drain fluid from the area.

A week after the 14-hour operation, Maurer was recovering Friday with his mother Connie and wife Mindy by his side.

"This has been very emotional. Of course I've seen him for seven year fighting this," said Connie Maurer.

For seven years, doctors unfamiliar with the condition told Dan to lose weight, which he would do, but his scrotum continued to grow.

"It's 80 pounds hanging between your legs," said Dan. "It took a lot of willpower every day for me to get up out of bed, fight it. I could walk about 40 feet before i would have to stop and rest."

It wasn't until he saw a TV documentary about another man with the same condition that led him to Dr. Joel Gelman at UCI Medical Center.

"A very debilitating condition, as these patients develop masses that become the size of a baseball, then a basketball, then a watermelon and then ultimately the size of a beach ball," said Dr. Joel Gelman, a professor of urology.

Maurer is 150 pounds lighter after surgeons removed the growth and extra fat from his stomach area.

"Dan has gotten really strong and he's determined and I know that he's going to succeed in this that he wants for his life," said Connie Maurer.

His doctor expects Maurer should be well enough to leave the hospital in the next several days. But he has a long road of rehabilitation ahead of him. Maurer must lose more weight and has to re-learn how to walk.

"It's going to be a learning curve, and if you don't have a good heart going into it, you're never going to achieve anything," said Dan.

"He's been in a cage for seven years and now he's got new hope," said Connie.