Doctors are stumped by California man's brain tumor vanishing without surgery

An MRI scanner.
(Image credit: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images)

Paul Wood and his doctors were all caught off guard when, the day before he was scheduled to have brain surgery, it was abruptly canceled due to a medical mystery.

Several months ago, the Lodi, California, resident was having excruciating headaches and difficulty walking. His doctor sent him to a neurosurgeon, who thought Wood was perhaps suffering from a brain bleed, but a radiologist spotted signs of a tumor. Surgery was scheduled, but when he went to see the doctor for a pre-op appointment, the suspected tumor was gone.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.