Boy travels from Mexico to have 11-pound neck tumor removed

Jose Antonio Ramirez Serrano was born in Juarez, Mexico, with a golfball-sized growth in his neck. He was diagnosed with lymphangiomas, a rare lymphatic system malady that results in benign, slow-growing masses of soft, doughy tissue.
By the time Jose was 9, his tumor was the size of a football -- nearly a foot long and four inches wide and deep, engulfing his neck, shoulder and torso area. But now, at age 10, the tumor is gone, successfully removed Monday in an operation that took more than 12 hours and required the efforts of 25 medical professionals.
Jose came to America with the help of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations Office, which secured humanitarian visas for the boy and his family. Once in Albuquerque, they were housed by First Baptist Church of Rio Rancho. The church runs a health clinic for the poor, and though they were not equipped to treat Jose's condition themselves, they connected Jose and his family with the University of New Mexico Children's Hospital where the surgery was performed. They also helped raised funds to pay for the operation.
"The phones have been ringing. Just this morning, there have been 25 calls that have come in," Ted With, the associate pastor of First Baptist Church of Rio Rancho, told local ABC affiliate KOAT in an interview two years ago.
After two years of treatment -- tumor-shrinking medication and smaller surgeries -- Jose finally has the mass gone. But he will still require a number of followup surgeries to reconstruct his shoulder and remove excess skin.