Illness causes Melbourne man's muscles to inflate

**Xavier Wills** · 06-20-2012, 09:34 AM

Mystery illness causes man's muscles to inflate
Wed, 20 Jun, 10:30 AM

A Melbourne man has an undiagnosed medical condition that makes his muscles swell so large he needs regular surgery to reduce their size.

Stephen Jando, 27, has visited more than 20 different specialists to try to discover the cause of his condition, which is extremely painful and appears to be getting worse.

"My muscles pump like I'm running a marathon 24 hours a day, they are at least 10 times stronger than normal," Mr Jando told ninemsn.

Despite his appearance, Mr Jando said he is physically unable to exercise due to the pain, which is often unbearable.

"I'm stuck on the couch or in bed most days because there's too much pain to even put weight on my feet."

At one point, Mr Jando's calf muscle was so swollen it measured 55cm around.

Dr Monique Ryan, a paediatric neurologist at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, has been studying Mr Jando's condition for the past five years.

"Despite quite significant investigations we haven't been able to provide a diagnosis," Dr Ryan said.

"It has actually got a lot worse for Stephen. Various surgeons have taken away muscle tissue to make them smaller, but they tend to regrow."

Can you help diagnose him? Send an email to news.feedback@ninemsn.com.au

Mr Jando said he began feeling the pain in his muscles when he was eight, shortly after he broke his ankle.

"I've had multiple ankle and ligament reconstructions since then, but we've gotten to a point where orthopaedic surgeons don’t want to operate because I've already had 15 operations on my legs," he said.

Mr Jando has taken medication since he was a child to reduce the pain, but his problems have since become more serious.

"I had a heart attack a few years ago and more recently I had to be put into an induced coma because my heart rate went too high and I couldn't cope anymore," he said.

Mr Jando is currently in Hungary to see several specialists and visit mineral baths to provide some relief.

"Stephen is really unusual," Dr Ryan said.

"Unfortunately we do sometimes see cases like this, but over time we can eventually work out what it is. I still hope we will at some point."

Do you have an unusual medical condition? Let us know by sending an email to news.feedback@ninemsn.com.au

Sources: Stephen Jando, Ann Jando
Dr Monique Ryan
Author: Emily Crane. News editor: Henri Paget.

LINK- http://news.ninemsn.com.au/smartphon...chpost=tabloid