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.

It was "a miracle," Wood told CBS Sacramento. Specialists do not know why the tumor disappeared without treatment, with Woods' physician, Dr. Richard Yee, saying doctors "do tests and we have medical technology and we try to come up with some conclusion ... sometimes things happen that we can't explain." Wood turned to his church for support, and said he appreciated all of the prayers he received from "all over California." He also told CBS Sacramento doctors want to take a closer look at his case, and have asked him to volunteer for a research study.

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