It
might interest you to know that this is the woman who doctors believe has the 'world’s biggest hands' -
weighing almost one and a half stone each.
For more than 50 years, shop owner Duangjay Samaksamam, from
Surin Province, Thailand, has suffered from an extremely rare and painful
affliction that leaves her limbs permanently swollen.
Moving can be very painful and even the simplest tasks, such
as washing and combing her hair, are extremely difficult for the single
59-year-old.
Embarrassed by her condition, Duangjay spent the first 20
years of her life as a recluse, ashamed of the way she looked, so she never
went to school.
But she was forced to come out of hiding to earn a living in
order to care for her elderly parents and take over running the family grocery
shop.
She has caught the attention of medics all over the world,
with many attempting surgery to
decrease the swelling, but, to date, none have succeeded.
Duangjay said: “My hands are so heavy I can barely lift them
to comb or shampoo my hair, it’s very difficult. Getting dressed is also very
difficult and painful.
“Some doctors said the only solution was to cut off my hands
if I wished to walk around freely. But I don’t want to do that."
At age 25, she underwent a
series of operations to try and solve the problem. But rather than improving the situation, the surgery made
the condition worse.
Having undergone three operations, Duangjay was still in a
crippling condition.
Plastic surgeon Dr Eiju Uchinuma said: “This case is very
rare. Both her arms are enlarged. Her arms and hands are enormous so they swell
badly, but it could be worse.
“My diagnosis is that she is the first and only person in
the world who has Macrodystrophia Lipomatosa from shoulders to her fingers on
both arms.
“The cause of the disease is unknown and is therefore
incurable.”
Duangjay’s story appears in a new series of Body Bizarre, set to air on TLC at 9pm on September 25.
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