Treatment goes awry, cancer patient gets hair growing inside mouth

Thiruvananthapuram: One would cringe with horror when he or she sees the inside of the mouth of Stephen, a native of Vellarada near here. The fear would soon transform into sympathy when one realizes that Stephen’s mouth is filled with so much hair that chewing food or gulping water has become a nightmare for him. Meanwhile, the reason for his misery is quite embarassing.

Two years ago he was diagnosed with a tumour inside his mouth and it was removed surgically. But the doctors, instead of grafting skin from his thigh to the inside of the mouth as he was told initially, used skin from his chin for the purpose.

A few days after leaving the hospital, Stephen noticed hair growing in his mouth. When he consulted the doctor who conducted the surgery, he was met with silence. Stephen explained his difficulties when he went for consultation again. This time, the doctor instructed him to trim the hair growing inside his mouth as a solution. So, Stephen tried cutting the hair. His kids too came to his aid.

Despite trying hard, his situation worsened. The hair that is trimmed often goes down the throat causing bouts of coughs. The hapless man says he cannot even sip water as it forces him to swallow strands of the hair along with it. The discomfort of having his mouth full of hair is troubling Stephen beyond anyone’s imagination, he says.

Stephen used to work as a coconut tree climber until two years ago. He cannot work now due to his ill-health and other difficulties. Recently, Stephen and his wife visited the doctor again.

The doctor then advised him to hire a barber to cut the hair for him, if Stephen cannot do it on his own. The doctor’s words further worsened his condition, as he suffered immense mental stress.

Stephen often falls unconscious as he cannot eat food. He now sits helpless, staring at a bleak future, in the dingy room of his unfinished house in Therani.