Wayne Wesley Jr., Las Vegas Man, Undergoes 13-Hour Surgery To Remove 130-Pound Testicle; Should You Be Worried About Scrotal Lymphedema?
After five years of constant discomfort, a 48-year-old Las Vegas man has recently undergone a 13-hour operation to correct his bizarre condition, a testicle weighing over 130 pounds. Wesley Warren Jr. had previously turned down offers to have his corrective surgery paif for over an admitted fear of dying.
"Who would want to live like this? I just don't want to die during the operation," Warren told the Las Vegas Review Journal in June of 2012.
Warren suffers from a rare condition known as scrotal lymphedema where fluid causes the scrotum to balloon in size. Lymphatic vessels in the scrotum are unable to drain properly due to obstruction, aplasia (where an organ or bodily tissue fails to grow properly), or hypoplasia (where an organ or body tissue incompletely develops). The most common origin of the disease is infection such as Wuchereria bancrofti and lymphogranuloma. However, these infections are rare in Western culture and generally localized to Africa and Asia.
According to the Center for Reconstructive Urology, scrotal lymphedema is only one of the disorders that can cause testicles to swell. An enlarged scrotum can be the result of something as simple as a hernia or it can also be due to fluid accumulation between the testicle and skin, also known as hydrocele.
Warren's surgery was successful, and he is now in recovery.
"My body is acclimatizing. Enough cannot be said for fans that helped me," explained Warren. "I'm still not able to get around much and enjoy driving or going to dinner."
Warren received a great deal of attention after featuring his inflated manhood on Howard Stern's radio show. The decision to speak in public about the issue worked out well for Warren — a generous donor who heard about his ailment on the radio show agreed to finance the operation.
"I don't like being a freak, who would?" Warren told The Sun. "But I figured that the Stern show is listened to by millions of people and they might want to help me. I hope some millionaire or billionaire will want to help me."