Another bizarre growth

Back in April last year I wrote about a Russian man who was discovered to have a fir tree growing in his lung. It seems he's not alone in strange plants in his airways. Via JayG, we learn of a Massachusetts man with a pea that had taken root inside him.

The former teacher, who also had spent years running a retail fish market and smokehouse, had seen his already-frail health begin to falter further in prior months. He already knew he had emphysema but lately was having bad coughing spells.

"Everything seemed to be going downhill," said Sveden, of Brewster. "I seemed to be tired a lot more. I didn't want to do too much. My appetite was diminishing."

The news sounded even more dire when he was told at the hospital that he was dehydrated and suffering from pneumonia. Then came X-rays showing a small but ominous dark spot — then biopsies that came up negative for lung cancer.

His doctors decided their only option was to go inside and see for themselves.

"There was a lot of inflammation there and I thought, OK, there's a tumor at the bottom of this," said Spillane, who went in with a scope.

But the more Spillane probed at the encrusted mass, the clearer it became that it was no tumor.

"It was pretty grungy, but it looked like a pea," Spillane said. "I sent it to the pathologist. They said it was a vegetable."

It took less than half an hour to clear away the sprout, drain some of the fluid that had built up around it, and help restore the lung's capacity.

After his surgery in June, Sveden spent three weeks in the hospital and a week in rehab. He said he feels fine now and is still amazed by that something as small as a pea could create such a big health headache.

There's more at the link.

At least a pea's a manageable sort of size. What if it had been a seed from a pumpkin or watermelon?





Peter