Plant Found Growing in Man's Lung

Imagine spending two weeks in the hospital undergoing test after test that come back as negative for cancer, until the doctors finally decide to operate to remove the mysterious mass in your lung. As the anesthesia takes you under fearing a diagnosis of cancer, you wake up in what seems like moments later to find out that it was not cancer, but a pea or bean that had started growing in your lung.

That is exactly what happened this summer to 75-year-old Ron Sveden from Brewster, Massachusetts.

A fear of the worst

Sveden has been ill for quite awhile, suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and emphysema, so has been on oxygen to keep him breathing for the past 18 months.

He had not been feeling well for quite some time, had a persistent cough, and was feeling listless, when he finally checked himself into Cape Code Hospital to find out that the lower lobe of his lung was collapsed. Hearing that, coupled with the news of the mass, he felt that he had about six months left of life.

Doctors baffled

Sveden, a long-time tobacco smoker and owner of a fish market who spent much of his life breathing smoke into his lungs as he smoked fish for the market, had already lived 23 years beyond what his father had lived. The doctors expected to find cancer given his history.

Each of two biopsies and multiple samples came back with no indication of cancer. That was when Dr. Scott Slater consulted his friend and colleague, thoracic surgeon Dr. Jeff Spillane, who agreed to perform the surgery.

Spillane was surprised to find the half-inch sprout lodged in Sveden's lung, from which his body had tried to protect itself by developing a crust-like covering of the foreign matter. The doctor removed it from the lung.

A sense of humor

Sveden is on the mend, breathing better now that the obstruction has been removed, and back to doing things he enjoys, even though he relies on his oxygen tank.

He has a sense of humor about the situation, as do his friends giving him canned peas as a get-well gift, and keeping the pea-related jokes coming. He jokes about "going to work for the Jolly Green Giant." (Watch video at CNN.com)

Sveden and his wife, Nancy, are not only grateful for Ron's life being saved, but also for the stories that will be passed on to the future generations.

Sources

Cape Cod Times Online

CNN.com