What in the world could've been wrong with this man?

a man came into my place of employment today with a full head of hair, and was about 5'10. he couldn't have weighed any more than 80 lbs. you could see every bone in his face, arms, chest, everything. he had a patch of gauze on his jaw just under his ear which was about the size of a post-it note and he clutched onto that as if to hold it to his face every time he spoke. he had a very raspy voice and my first thought was that he was a smoker or had cancer but other than the obvious (smoker, cancer, anorexia, etc) what could've been wrong with him. i've never seen anything like ths in my life.

also, when i asked to see his drivers license his picture was completely normal. he was filled out and almost looked fat! the license however was probably from about 10 years ago.

Answer:
Since I didnt see him or a picture of him, it sounds like mouth, or jaw cancer. I have seen in my hospice career, patients with half their cheek gone, large pieces of tongue removed. If he has that much pain, and the area covered, it is probably difficult to eat, so that would explain the weight loss. The raspyness can also be laryngeal cancer.
sounds like a meth addict to me. they lose weight, and end up getting lesions on their bodies (including their faces).

if not meth, then another type of drug too, such as heroine, or cocaine, they all cause severe weight loss and lesions.
Other than the obvious...maybe he has a drug addiction. Drug abuse can drastically change the appearance of a persons body. Given the fact that he was holding a patch on the side if his neck, and the description you gave, it sounds to me like he has / had cancer and just had a treatment of some sort, like chemotherapy.
He could suffer from a disorder that makes eating difficult. He might also be suffering from something like AIDS. People with muscular dystrophy can also develop a very wasted appearance.

The medicine and health information post by website user , ByeDR.com not guarantee correctness , is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.


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