A surgeon in Los Angeles, Dr. Ryan Osborne, has transformed the life of Charmaine Sahadeo, a mother-of-two from Trinidad after he removed thousands of tumors that had taken over her body in more than 60 hours of surgery.
Sahadeo, afflicted with the rare condition NF-1 neurofibromatosis, had endured agonizing tumors across her body. Dr. Osborne performed over 24 operations spanning 10 weeks to remove thousands of tumors from her scalp, face, arms, legs, buttocks, breasts, and genital region, as reported by Daily Mail.
The patient had undergone two surgeries in her home country for her debilitating neurofibromatosis disorder, but, she decided to seek further assistance abroad.
She initiated a fundraiser to travel to the U.S. for treatment. After a lengthy search, she connected with Dr. Osborne, an acclaimed head and neck surgeon, renowned for his expertise. He was resolute in assisting her with what was considered one of the most severe cases of neurofibromatosis globally.
Dr. Osborne was featured on TLC’s Take My Tumor, guiding Sahadeo through a transformative journey to rid her of the tumors plaguing her life for years. Addressing Sahadeo’s severe neurofibromatosis on the show, Dr. Osborne told her that because of the severity of her condition, she was “encroaching on some dangerous territory”, and required urgent care.
He detailed how removing each tumor carried the risk of infection, and that meant exercising extreme caution while conducting multi-session procedures. He nonetheless continued with the prolonged process of removing thousands of tumors, spanning over two months and involving multiple surgeries.
Dr. Osborne added that the speed of the surgery was dependent on how much pain the patient was willing to endure at each stage to enable them to proceed.
Dr Osborne said: “You’re not going to feel anything during the surgery. It’s when you wake up. If I took this all off, it would be as if someone skinned you alive and I couldn’t give you enough pain medication to keep you comfortable.”
Despite the pain, Sahadeo was looking at the bigger picture of regaining her self-esteem. Dr Osborne told his patient: “I’ve never done this before…. We’re going to do this together, one step at a time.
“All I can tell you is that I’m going to be here with you the whole way through and whatever happens we’ll figure it out.”
Before carrying out the surgery, the medical team faced a major hurdle: the patient’s tumors obscured her veins, making it impossible to administer anesthesia for sedation.
They opted for local anesthetic, numbing only the affected area. Sahadeo therefore underwent a 13-hour surgery while fully conscious.
Dr. Osborne successfully removed dozens of tumors, including large ones on Sahadeo’s face, “Frank” in her mouth, and a large tumor on her leg. Over the subsequent 10 weeks, he performed a total of 24 surgeries on Sahadeo, totaling 60 hours in the operating room.
Four weeks after her final surgery, back home in Trinidad, Sahadeo remarked: “Life is 100 percent better for me.”
Dr. Osborne is in the business of transforming lives and often showcases his work on platforms like YouTube and social media.
“When most doctors see a patient and it’s a complex situation, they just see high risk. I see the opposite of that, which is high impact,” he said on his Instagram.
“It’s an opportunity for me to have a huge impact on that patient’s life. I went into medicine to help people.
“Once I make a human connection with a patient, I don’t have a choice — I’m going to do the case.”
