Woman With Hormone Condition Stands 6-Feet, 6-Inches; Weighs 476 Pounds

[cat lady]

VIDEO LINK

 

Woman With Hormone Condition Stands 6-Feet, 6-Inches; Weighs 476 Pounds

 

A woman suffering from a rare hormonal disorder stands 6-feet, 6-inches, weighs 476 pounds and is still growing, the Daily Mail reports.

 

Tanya Angus is believed to be one of the tallest and heaviest women on the planet and doctors say her condition cannot be stopped by medication.

 

Angus, who appeared on NBC's Today show in June, lives in Nevada and suffers from a condition known as acromegaly, also referred to as gigantism.

 

At 20-years-old, Angus stood 5-foot, 11-inches and weighed just 115 pounds, but her height and her weight soon started to spiral out of control.

 

Her doctor diagnosed her with gigantism and she was sent to a specialist, the Daily Mail reported.

 

RELATED: Doctor Discovers Man's Brain Tumor Through 'Spongy' Handshake

 

An MRI scan showed she had a tumor the size of a grapefruit in her brain which had wrapped itself around her inner carotid artery, causing an overproduction of growth hormones. In 2003, she underwent surgery to remove most of the tumor, although small parts of it were too difficult to separate from her brain.

 

She was then given a cocktail of drugs to try to control the huge amounts of growth hormones still in her body. Her growth hormones totaled 3,000. An average person has about 250.

 

Despite the drugs, her growth hormone level has never fallen below 900.

 

At 6ft6ins and 34stone, meet one of the largest and heaviest women on the planet - and she's still growing

 

Standing at 6ft 6ins and weighing 34 stone, this woman has been dubbed a modern-day giant - and, alarmingly, she is still growing.

 

Tanya Angus, who suffers from a rare growth condition, is already one of the tallest and heaviest women on the planet.

 

Now doctors say she is the only woman in the world whose growth cannot be halted by medication.

 

 

Suffering from a rare disease known as Acromeglia, a condition often referred to as 'gigantism', (which means her body is producing too much growth hormone), Tanya rocketed from a slender 5ft 8ins at the age of 18 to a massive 6ft 6ins and 34 stone.

 

'I'm staying hopeful,' says 30-year-old Tanya, from Nevada, USA.

 

'Without hope you don't have anything. I hope they can stop me growing one day so I can try to live as normally as possible.'

 

Tanya's troubles began in her late teens when she noticed that her feet, face and figure were continuing to grow at an alarming rate.

 

'I started to feel unhappy with my appearance. I started spending a fortune on make-up, trying to make myself look better. I couldn't understand why my face didn't look as attractive any more,' she said.

 

 

Tanya also began suffering severe migraines and felt run down and depressed, as if she was suffering from constant flu.

 

But though she kept going to see her GP, he believed the 20-year-old was just an attention-seeker hoping to be given anti-depressant drugs, and refused to help.

 

Even more shockingly Tanya's figure started to alter. Her once-womanly body became larger overall, and straight up and down - like a man's.

 

'Someone at work actually asked me if I used to be a man,' she said.

 

'My voice had also changed and become deeper. I was devastated and started to feel very shy and insecure.'

 

 

Things finally came to a head when her own boyfriend also asked her about her new shape, and got his mum to ask her whether she'd had a sex change.

 

'I was heartbroken and I decided I didn't want any more to do with him,' she said. 'I phoned my mum and said I wanted to come back to Nevada.

 

'As soon as my sister saw me at the airport, she knew I'd changed, and she called my mum and told her we needed to see a doctor.'

 

The family GP immediately recognised the signs of gigantism and referred Tanya to a specialist. At that stage she was 6ft 1ins tall, and a size 14 to 16, with a size 10 feet.

 

An MRI scan eventually showed a tumour the size of a grapefruit in her brain which had wrapped itself around her inner carotid artery, causing an overproduction of growth hormone.

 

It was so big, doctors at first said there was nothing to be done.

 

But Tanya's mum Karen, EMT-1 medical professional and firefighter, searched the Internet and medical publications until she finally found a doctor who said he could operate.

 

In 2003, she Tanya finally underwent surgery to remove most of the tumour, although small parts of it were too difficult to separate from her brain. She was then given a cocktail of drugs to try to control the huge amounts of growth hormones still in her body.

 

Tanya had a count of 3,000 of the hormones, compared to an average person's of just 250. Doctors were anxious to bring the level down to less than 1,000, but they were barely able to do that. Her height had crept up to 6ft 3ins, and she was now a size 20.

 

Unable to walk properly, she had to live with her mother and stepfather. She barely went out and was subjected to stares and make rude comments in the street.

 

'It was horrible,' she said. 'My whole life had to change, and I couldn't do anything for myself any more.

 

'The hardest thing is that people kept thinking I was man, and calling me sir, which really annoys me. I try to dress in feminine clothes and wear make-up to look nice, but it's really hard when you're my size.'

 

Two years later in 2005, the hormone levels again began to soar, and Tanya's mum sought out a second specialist who discovered the tumour had grown again and was now the size of an orange.

 

 

She underwent further surgery, and fat from her stomach had to be used to pad out areas of brain tissue from where the tumour had been removed.

 

Tanya was put on another set of medication to reduce the growth hormone, but her levels have never sunk to below 900 and are now over 1,000. She is now one of the world's tallest women, and also one of the heaviest.

 

Then two years ago, Tanya also suffered a stroke, caused by the pressure her massive body was putting on her heart. She had to learn how to walk and talk again, and now suffers hearing difficulties.

 

She recovered and went to live with her sister, but still struggles to get around, and now uses a wheelchair.

 

'Doctors just say there is nothing we can do for her,' said Karen. 'You don't know how many doctors we have called to try and help us. We've spent all our savings, over $200,000 (?122,300) trying to help her.

 

'One doctor even told me that my daughter had only two months to live. That was eight months ago, but I refused to believe it.

 

'I won't stop until we can find something to halt the growth.'

 

Now Tanya has a new doctor, who she's been seeing for three months, and he is hopeful of finally finding a drug combination to slow down her growth.

 

'I'm doing this story because I want people to understand why I'm this way,' she says. 'It's not my fault I ended up like this.

 

'People even in my home town are still so hurtful, and I'd like people to be educated so they can treat me as a real person at last.'

 

 

She?s 6-foot-6, 480 pounds ... and still growingTanya Angus, 30, has rare disorder that causes uncontrolled growth

[fatnsassy]

Awww! Bless her heart! I wonder what surgeons she has been to. I hope they get it stopped for her soon.

[justashell]

I remember seeing Tanya on the Today show (I think)---another guest was the founder (I think) of the Pituitary Network. He mentioned that often times patient's like Tanya are told there is nothing that can be done---but there are doctors/specialists out there who may be able to help.

 

It's sad when something so obvious is going on---and people still treat you like you're a freak. Ugh. It just goes to show how ignorant we all can be.

[mindylindy]

Wow, this really pulls at my heart strings. What a brave lady. More awareness is what we need!

[da89165]

I also saw the Today Show interview. I was mad and heart-broken that multiple doctors had either been ignorant or not aggressive enough to stop the progression of this disease much, much sooner.

 

Bob, the National Pit Association founder has also had agromegly. He already had 2-3 different kinds of doctors lined-up in NY to see her while she was in NY if she wanted. You could tell he was livid when he heard she'd been told there was nothing that could be done. Well, that is true if your doctor doesn't know anything else, but it doesn't mean SOMEBODY else can do something for you!!!!

 

As bad as we have it with trying to get docs to take our physical changes seriously, I simply cannot imagine a doc not acknowledging her physical changes. It's just criminal that he health and life has no become so difficult because of this.

 

I agree that she's very brave to share her story and to keep moving forward hoping to find some doc that can truly help her. With a tumor as big as hers, and with it not being able to be totally resected, I can't imagine why they wouldn't have nearly insisted that she have radiation to kill the residual tumor.

 

My hats off to her and her family!!!

[conti]

WOW!

 

 

( anybody tell me why her dad has a spring on his left heel? )

 

 

Dave

[ttiffany20191]

My heart goes out to her and her family ..

[justashell]

I met a guy who was working on a local tv ad, and he had shoes with springs on them---very similar to what the dad is wearing. I wondered if they were therapeutic shoes---the guy said no---just comfortable.

I looked to see if I could find the manufacturer---couldn't find that exact one---but there are others:

http://z-coil-miami.com/catalog1.htm

I kept thinking that if I tried walking in them, I'd end up the same way I do when I wear heels---tottering around and worried about falling down.

 

After reading this:

http://z-coil-miami.com/Testimonials.htm

 

I wonder if this gal (from Corvallis) didn't get a case of Cushings via the anti-inflammatory drugs that were destroying his liver or if she had some sort of underlying endocrine problem that never got noticed?

 

Apparently, Helena Bonham Carter is a big fan too. I wonder if it's THAT HBC? The way she talks, it sounds like it could be.

[da89165]

WOW!

 

 

( anybody tell me why her dad has a spring on his left heel? )

 

 

Dave

 

YES!!! I noticed that too!!