Man dismissed as 'fat' and given Ozempic before doctors discovered 60-pound tumor
A man, who was thought to be overweight, was given Ozempic and put on weight loss courses before a 60-pound tumor was discovered inside of him.
Thomas Kraut, 59, had visited different doctors after his stomach kept getting bigger and bigger.
It's said that medical experts mistakenly thought this was due to 'fat' and put Thomas on weight loss and nutrition courses, unbeknownst to the cancer growing inside of him.
Thomas, who is originally from Germany but now resides in Norway, first experienced health problems in 2011 as his stomach increased in size.
Advert
He was initially diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2012, but it wasn't for another 11 years that doctors discovered that something was seriously wrong.
"My stomach kept getting bigger. I went from doctor to doctor and in 2019 I was finally approved for a gastric sleeve," Thomas said.
"The doctors only ever talked about being overweight and diabetes. I was given Ozempic for diabetes and before the gastric sleeve I had to attend nutrition and fitness courses for several years."
When doctors pressed on the German's stomach they realized the hard surface was not fat.
"In addition, I had lost so much weight with the change in diet and Ozempic that my face and arms were very thin. Only my stomach was huge. The doctor even said that I was actually malnourished," Thomas added.
Concerned by what they had seen, the doctor immediately took Thomas in for a CT scan which revealed a massive tumor.
Thomas added: "It was a real shock for me. My kidney was affected because the tumor was feeding on my right kidney."
Two weeks later, doctors diagnosed Thomas with a rare fatty tumor that was made up of multiple smaller cancerous areas surrounded by fat.
Thomas underwent a ten-hour operation to remove the tumor - said to have weighed 27kg (60.18 lbs) and measured 52.3cm (20.59 inches) in diameter - in September 2023, which caused significant damage to his body and part of his small intestine.
On top of that, Thomas' right kidney had to be removed during the procedure.
While he's in a much better place with his health, Thomas still has cancerous tissue growing inside him.
"I go to a psychologist for therapy every two weeks. I have to go to the oncologist twice a year because I still have tumor tissue inside me that is growing. I was told that it cannot be removed because it is connected to several organs," he said.
Thomas has even filed a lawsuit against the doctors who failed to detect the cancer.
But because the tumor was so rare, medics claimed they couldn't be blamed for having failed to detect it - which led to the case being dismissed.
However, Thomas' lawyer has already filed an objection against the dismissal.
"My lawyer has lodged an objection, it will work out somehow," Thomas said.
Callum Jones