Oh my! Man With 100-Pound Scrotum Can’t Afford $1 Million Surgery

[wndycty]

Man With 100-Pound Scrotum Can’t Afford $1 Million Surgery



Whether you're seeking a new source of inspiration or just in need of some perspective, Wesley Warren Jr. has got what probably got what you need. But do you have what Wesley Warren Jr. needs? Uh, that would be $1 million to purchase the corrective procedure he needs to make his scrotum normal-sized again.

Since 2008 Warren, a 47-year-old Las Vegas resident, has been suffering from scrotal lymphedema—a condition that has made his scrotum swell up with watery fluid to weigh more than 100 pounds. He carries around a milk crate and pillow to rest his oversize body part upon, and because of the extra weight has trouble breathing and walking. He can't work, deals with uncontrollable urination, gets strange looks from passersby, suffers from depression (related in large part to his condition), and stays at home most of the time. He feels like "a freak." Yet he soldiers on, fighting off suicidal thoughts ("I'm too strong for that," he says) and laughing, however uneasily, at his predicament.

Nobody's really sure what caused Warren's scrotum to swell, which adds an extra element of horror to his situation. Warren believes a traumatic incident is to blame, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports:

What Warren attributes his condition to is an accidental striking of his testicles by his own leg as he twisted and turned upon awakening from a sleep in late 2008.

"I never felt such pain," he said. "It was like a shooting pain through my entire body. When it stopped, it was like a huge tractor trailer went off the top of me. I think it ruined my lymph nodes down there."

The pain quickly went away but he said the next morning when he awoke his scrotum was "the size of a soccer ball."
-snip-

http://gawker.com/5850790/man-with-100+pound-scrotum-cant-afford-1-million-surgery

[HopeHoops]

1. At least nobody can accuse him of not having balls.

[wndycty]

2. Rim shot!

:kick:

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. Reconstructive? Sorry, but that sounds painful as all hell

to deal with. Why not just *snipsnip* and remove the scrotum to relieve the pain/swelling?

[LeftyMom]

6. Because dude doesn't want to be a ken doll?

They'd have to remove his penis too. Understandably he'd rather aim for normal, functioning genitals and not just a deformity that's easier to hide. It's pretty fucked up to tell somebody they're stuck with a lifetime of celibacy because saving their junk isn't cost effective.

[Ruby the Liberal]

18. You think he isn't celibate now?

I'm sorry, but if the tradeoff is pain (and carrying around a milk carton and pillow to holster my balls), I think I would have to consider it.

Did google his condition when I first read this, and there is a LOT of information out on the web about it. Surprised me to see that. I didn't dig very far, but didn't see where removing a penis is part of the surgery. A scan through seemed to indicate lymph node concerns.

[LeftyMom]

26. Right now he's got hope.

And the article explains that the first hospital proposed removing his penis as well because right now it's buried in his scrotum. The second hospital hopes to save it.

[TheKentuckian]

51. Wow

[Blue_Tires]

4. I can't even make a joke here

I just hope he can go back to living a normal life...

[laylah]

57. +1

[dembotoz]

5. there has to be a teabagger joke in here somewhere......

[Hubert Flottz]

7. So don't blame the man when he goes balls out to get where he

needs to go!

[seabeyond]

8. i don't get the jokes. a life of hell. can't get medical. why the hell not? suicidal

and people joke

i do not get that at all

[RedRocco]

10. ikr?

I guess mocking the less fortunate is now a progressive value...

[JuniperLea]

19. I'm with you...

:banghead:

[RebelOne]

25. Me too. It's nothing to joke about. The poor man is assuredly miserable. n/t

[redwitch]

36. I agree.

I don't get it either.

[Change has come]

45. This is what 20 years of dlc values has brought to the party.

:puke:

[seabeyond]

46. i think more the anonymity of internet and increase of incivility in society. always pushing the li...

of decency.

[City of Mills]

54. Agreed, that's horrific

I don't find this is funny at all.

[saras]

9. And why the fuck is this simple surgery, not that much more complicated than a vasectomy, $1 mil???

[TwilightGardener]

11. Inhumane not to provide this man with the surgery he needs. He has zero quality of life.

I took care of someone who had a similar condition--his scrotum was the size of a basketball, and poorly perfused because of the pressure of the fluid, so the skin/mucous membranes started breaking down and bleeding. I had to change his dressings and support it with rolled-up towels. Very painful and sad.

[Uben]

12. I think you're all missing the real problem.....

....a million frickin dollars for a surgery is ridiculous. Even if it takes a team of surgeons and 12 hours to perform, a million dollars is too damned much......period. We should start occupying hospitals after Wall Street. Did you know medical professionals are a huge portion of the 1%? Huh? What? It's true....look it up!

Surgeons and specialists are a vital part of our healthcare system, but they are overpaid just like the wall street bums. The administrators at hospitals are way overpaid. Why? Because they know how to bilk the government out of huge amounts of money....legally!

If we are going to target the 1%, at some point the medical industry has to be on the list.

[Hubert Flottz]

13. You are exactly right.

[JCMach1]

14. Exactly...

Our 'sainted' doctors are indeed part of the healthcare problem...

[JuniperLea]

21. The doctor's bill on this is the least of it

Surgical center charges... caching... facility charges... caching... $500 for $30 worth of pain pills...

I went to the emergency room this past July for a simple spiral hairline fracture of the distal fibula. I was in the emergency room for about an hour, had three xray images taken, got a splint from toe to hip, and a pain pill. The charges were over $5000. The doctor's portion of that was $85.

[demmiblue]

23. Yep! We had an emergency several years ago...

I was pleasantly shocked to see such a small bill from the physicians (billed separately). Totally doable... the rest, not so much.

[JCMach1]

50. Which would be enough to get you bypass surgery in India...

[elias7]

33. I don't know where you get your info from

Think before you speak, or at least do some research.

I am an ED physician and am not even close to being a one percenter. Physician charges are actually quite reasonable compared to the rest of what is billed, which is often obscenely high. But please, don't misplace your blame and anger. We are in the service business, and we are on the same side. I put my heart into my work and put my ass on the line every day, I make a decent living, but I'm no millionaire.

[JCMach1]

48. Just compare fees to the rest of the world... especially for specialists...

And no, it's not 'just' doctors... however, they are (especially their lobbying groups) a part of the problem... along with the list of regular suspects:

-insurers
-pharma
-for profit hospitals

Hell, not just for-profit hospitals... for-profit anything in medicine. The system is broke primarily because the system pretends to be capitalism, but can never be because you can never have true competition.

[demmiblue]

22. Medical professionals are not a huge part of the 1% (if at all).

Do you have links to back that up?


P.S. Administrators and insurance company CEO's do not count as medical professionals.

[uponit7771]

24. That's true....

[uppityperson]

28. "medical professionals are a huge portion of the 1%". link to that claim is needed. Most of the bill

for surgery, for hospitalizations is NOT medical professionals but to the hospital. Yes, a million dollars is ridiculous, but don't blame it on "surgeons and specialists".

[ChazII]

39. Thank you for your common sense.

[Uben]

53. I heard it on MSNBC

...they (ODonnell?) quoted the fact about "medical professionals", so take that in what context you like. He did not specify surgeons and specialists.....my bad, I guess.

[dipsydoodle]

58. I would doubt that too

The surgeons don't necessarily get that much out of operations. Only one I can quote, which is from 21 years ago, was my wife's second brain op the surgeons fee for which was about £2000 then.

[Bjorn Against]

34. You are spot on.

[lynne]

35. You have hit the nail on the head -

- we've failed to focus on the cost of medical care which is the real issue here. We've had some big preoccupation with health insurance which has NOTHING to do with the cost of medical care.

[TBF]

42. If I were you I'd target the health care insurance and pharmaceutical companies -

your average doctors and lawyers are definitely top 10% - but most are not in the top 1% unless they are specialists and/or have family money.

You'll find many health care and pharma companies on the Fortune 500 - http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/full_list/

[malaise]

55. This should be an OP on its own

:hi:

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[polly7]

16. Very sad.

Maybe the publicity will stir up compassion and a medical team that will help him? If not, he needs to start up a fund that will get him to someplace that will.

[Cirque du So-What]

17. What other medical condition warrants such mockery?

Are some of you in middle school or what?!? Shame on you for making fun of this poor man's plight, for making a shitty representation of Democrats/progressives to the world, and on those with the power to do something about it...but don't!

[flamingdem]

20. yeesh. somebody help this guy! nt

[Arugula Latte]

27. It's his fault. He shouldn't have chosen to have been born in the United States.

[RagAss]

29. Is this surgery available in a country with a fucking heart ??

[Hugabear]

30. Why does this surgery have to cost ONE MILLION DOLLARS?

Talk about a million-dollar question. Why does this surgery have to cost so damned much?

Pretty sure you could have a heart bypass surgery for less than that.

[MH1]

60. I'm guessing is has to do with

a) for profit health care system
b) for profit malpractice insurance/lawyer industry (to be clear, most republican attempts at 'tort reform' are worse than the 'disease', but that doesn't mean there isn't a problem with the current system.)
c) for profit medical device / equipment industry making high margins on low volume equipment. Which is why we have the best healthcare system in the world - as long as you're in the 1%.

[sylvi]

31. I'm having a hard time swallowing that figure

There's nothing particularly exotic about lymphedema, even if it is in the scrotum. Drain fluid, excise tissue, a little microsurgery maybe to reanastamose some tubes and vessels. Some reconstructive surgery. Expensive, yes, but what's the average now for coronary bypass surgery? $60,000 total for doctor and hospital? And this is supposed to cost over sixteen times that amount? Color me skeptical.

Oh, and [e-mail]? Really?

[Contrary1]

32. I have lymphedema in one arm due to cancer surgery...

It comes and goes, but sometimes it can be very painful. A couple extra pounds of fluid tends to do that. I can't even imagine what this poor man is going through.

Really, it's nothing to joke about.

[Liberal_in_LA]

37. extremely sad if this guy can't get medical care immediately

[Auntie Bush]

38. I don't know why some Dr. doesn't do it for free out of pure sympathy or empathy?

[Liberal_in_LA]

44. surgeon can waive his costs but that's just a portion.. Hospital, anesthesiologist, tests

An organization or hospital needs to step up

[NorthCarolina]

40. 1 Million Dollars???

:wtf:

[Motown_Johnny]

41. sell the television rights and make a reality show out of it

[rugger1869]

43. Pics...

or GTFO.

[scheming daemons]

47. Nobody's going to tell this guy to "grow a set"

[lonestarnot]

49. Certainly one ballsy dude.

[Grown2Hate]

52. Heard his whole story on Howard Stern (that's where all those quotes are from). He was trying to

help him raise some money to get it fixed. In fact, Howard is the one that hooked him up with the consult at UCLA to begin with. He'd been sent in a circle by several doctors and specialists because no one had a CLUE how to help him. It went from normal to softball sized OVERNIGHT, and to soccer ball size within a few days. Crazy, crazy. It would help if his self-made website for contributions wasn't called "benefitballsack.com" or something like that.

[Lyric]

56. Buy the poor guy a ticket to Cuba.

That would be cheaper than paying for his surgery here. They'd probably do it for free just to embarrass the USA--and rightfully so. The fact that this man has lived with this problem for so long without getting help is just horrible in a nation this wealthy.

[Iggo]

59. The point is being missed.

ONE MILLION DOLLARS FOR SURGERY!!!!

Edit: Okay, not entirely missed.