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The Battle Creek man has a nearly 100-pound, enlarged scrotum that he wants removed.
For 39-year-old Dan Maurer, doing a TV interview about his condition isn't easy.
"When I go out, people do look. They try to be polite, you can see when something's not right," he said.
But he's doing it for a good cause.
"Probably my wife, I don't want to lose her," he said.
Dan has been with Mindy for 20 years. Not long into their marriage, he noticed changes.
"In my late 20s, I noticed it was little larger in that area," he said.
Dan's scrotum was getting bigger. His doctor told him to lose weight.
"So, I was doing two miles a day in the pool, and so I lost 50 pounds like that," he said.
Dan was getting smaller, but his growth was still getting bigger, he said, to the size of a cantaloupe at first. Dan was given a referral to the University of Michigan Health System. Again, he was told to lose weight.
"As far as they were concerned, I needed to have lap-band surgery to lose weight," he said.
"It was frustrating for the both of us," Mindy said.
Mindy says they became disenchanted with the medical community.
"He was like, if they're the top people in this area, if they don't know what it is, nobody does," she said.
More time passed, and Dan tried to lose more weight. When he got sick, he went back to the doctor.
"They admitted me like that. They were like, there's something seriously wrong," he said.
Dan had a broken cyst inside the scrotum. He spent the next two years going to a wound center. The size didn't change. It wasn't until Dan saw a show on TLC that he knew there was hope. The show is called "The Man with the 132-Pound Scrotum."
"That's when I found out, that's what I have," Dan said.
The condition is called scrotal lymphedema - a rare condition caused by blockages in the lymphatic vessels. Dan's only hope is a doctor in California who will perform surgery to remove the growth. The surgery is dangerous and expensive. Dan is hoping to raise money to help pay for the procedure. He knows it will not only improve his health but bring him closer to his wife.
"I haven't had marital relations with my husband in seven years," Mindy said. "You know, when you say those vows, you either mean them, or you don't. I meant them."
"She's amazing. I don't see myself as being worth it, but she is to me. That's why I'm going through this," Dan said.
Dan has his first appointment in California July 25. You can donate to his cause athttp://www.gofundme.com/-Dan-Maurer-Surgery-Fund
