Huge tumor zapped 81-yr.-old gets dicey, lifesaving surgery after several docs nixed op
An elderly New Jersey man had lost all hope of removing a massive, malignant tumor — until a Manhattan surgeon decided to take on the risky procedure needed to save his life.
Milton Wingert, 81, of Jersey City, had pleomorphic sarcoma, an aggressive cancerous mass that had ballooned to the size of a volleyball in less than eight months. Removing it could’ve threatened major vessels that supply blood to his brain — so doctors turned down the surgery.
Then Wingert met Dr. Nazir Khan, a head and neck surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital.
“Dr. Khan saved the day,” Wingert told the Daily News just three days after Khan removed the mass. “He saved my life.”
Wingert underwent a seven-hour long surgery Friday to take out the approximately 20-centimeter, 6pound tumor — a procedure that could’ve left him dead on the operating table.
“I told him that this [mass] could come out very easily, or it could be very complicated and that we should be prepared for everything,” Khan told the News. “I said this could be a fatal surgery, that he may not even survive, and I think that he was prepared for that.”
Wingert first noticed a ping pong ball-sized lump on his neck in May. He thought it was an infection or some sort of food allergy. Then the mass grew.
“It went to the size of an egg, to size of an orange, and then it was the size of a grapefruit. I was nervous because it was getting bigger and bigger and it was putting pressure on my thyroid,” he said, noting that he started experiencing chills, night sweats and other weird symptoms related to the lump. “I said, ‘This is no good.’ ”
He had the tumor checked out by several doctors who knew the mass was lifethreatening, Wingert said, but were not equipped to tackle such a tricky surgery. Then one physician referred him to Khan.
Khan said he and his team were able to get the mass out, but the doctor said Wingert will now have to undergo chemotherapy or radiation to rid his body of any cancerous cells in the surrounding tissue.
“I’ve stressed several times that this is not the end of the road for him,” Khan said. “[But] mindset has a lot to do with how we heal and how we recover, and he’s definitely in a better mindset now.”
Wingert — whose brother Vern Wingert has cared for him throughout the ordeal — said he and his family are prepared for what’s to come.
“I’m nervous,” he said. “But I’m ready.”