Miami Doctors Prepare To Remove This Massive Tumor From Girl:

At 15, Lai Thi Dao has never been to school, has no friends and is rarely allowed outside her family's home because her parents hoped to spare her from the curious stares of neighbors in their small mountain village in Vietnam.

All that, she hopes, will change beginning next week, when she undergoes surgery at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital to remove a massive growth that has consumed the lower half of her face.

Lai suffers from a massive Schwannoma tumor, a benign growth that began with a small lump in her tongue but swelled over the years to a size roughly one-third her body weight. The tumor makes it difficult to eat, talk and even walk because its size throws the girl's small frame off balance. The growth is now dangerously close to cutting off her airway, and doctors described the surgery as life-saving.

The photos above are a bit tough to stomach but it's the reality of the situation at hand. This isn't the first bizarre medical story we've featured on this site and it surely won't be the last. The quality of life factor in this case is so low it's astounding. I know that the staff at Jackson Memorial is infinitely qualified in dealing with people like Lai Ti Dao and that she is in good hands. All you can do now is hope.