Whenever your mate’s moaning gets a bit too much and they act like the world is against them, remind them their life could be much worse, they could be abstinent for 12 years against their own will.
This was the situation Dan Maurer found himself in. One so dire it prevented him from having sex with his wife of nine years. This was on the account of having swollen testicles which weighed about five stone.
His condition bewildered medical experts as he remained a prisoner in his own body until 2015.
As well as not being able to make love to his wife Mindy, Dan was unable to urinate in a toilet, take a shower or have a social life. If he wanted to go toilet he had to do it in a shower, as the size of his scrotum made it impossible for him to aim for the toilet bowl.
But after being diagnosed with lymphedema and having life-changing surgery, Dan has gone back to having some semblance of a normal life again.
Before the operation in 2015, he told American network show TLC, he felt like ‘a prisoner of my own body’ and liking his five stone scrotum to ‘carrying a ball and chain’.
When describing his everyday ordeal, Dan said:
The best way I could describe the weight to someone would be to imagine splitting open your scrotum and put in three large bowling balls then sew it back up and carry it around.
I’m constantly in pain and it’s a lot of weight on your back, so it’s very hard for me to move.
When Dan first noticed an irregularity in his body it began as a tiny bit of ‘puffiness’ below his waistline, as reported by The Sun. But his scrotum kept growing, so much so it got to a point where it stopped him from living his normal life.
No longer was he someone who would go out, play sports and go on camping trips with his buddies. Instead, he became a man restricted and confined to his condition, needing constant care and assistance. Before his operation, the last time he could make love to his wife was in March 2006.
Speaking before his operation, Dan stated:
When it was smaller I could lift it onto the toilet and pee into the toilet, but when it got bigger there was always a chance I would make a mess so it was easier to pee into the shower stall and rinse it down with the water.
It’s probably been two years since I could use a normal toilet.
Doctor’s were left bamboozled by Dan’s condition. Unable to come up with an answer they put the onus on him and his weight.
Dan says:
We went to our doctor and he was baffled, he’d never seen anything like it.
He basically said ‘you’re fat and there’s really nothing we can do until you lose at least 100 to 150lbs’.
After exercising and it was growing larger I realised at that point it really didn’t matter how much weight I lost; it was growing faster than I could lose the weight.
For the next seven years, Dan’s uncontrollable scrotum took over his life. His penis and testicles remained normal size but they were dwarfed by his condition.
It was only by chance, after watching a TV show about scrotal lymphoedema that he suspected he was diagnosed with the exact same condition. Scrotal lymphoedema is an ailment which causes a blockage in the lymphatic vessels and leads to a build-up outside the testicles, resulting in swelling.
Dan got in contact with a urologist based out in California, Dr Joel Gelman, who performed the life-changing operation on him. With the assistance of eight surgeons and 12 theatre staff during a 14-hour operation in 2015, Dr Gelman was successful in removing the huge scrotum from in between Dan’s legs.
In the latest update on his GoFundMe page, Dan wrote four months ago:
I am feeling pretty good. still need to lose more weight but it is something I have struggled with my whole life.
Again thank you all so much for giving me a second chance at life and I look forward to sharing it with you all.
We wish Dan the best in his recovery.
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