Word: yoshimitsu
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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When his first son Yoshimitsu was born, Farmer Koji Matsuzaka of Shinshushinmachi, a small mountain town 160 miles northwest of Tokyo, boasted: "He will grow up to be a giant." The proud father did not know how close his prophecy would come to the truth. By the time Yoshimitsu entered senior high at 16, he towered 6 ft. 7 in. At this time he began to have blinding headaches and tired so easily that he spent most of his time lying at home on a tatami. School doctors diagnosed Yoshimitsu's trouble as a hormone imbalance, recommended that...
...until last spring, when Yoshimitsu was 21 and had reached a basketball coach's dream height of 7 ft. 2 in., did he get to a specialist (on a newsman's intervention). Said Dr. Kentaro Shimizu (5 ft. 4 in.), one of Tokyo's top brain surgeons: "These cases are so uncommon that any specialist would be happy to treat one." Installed in a specially built bed (8 ft. 6 in.) and swathed in a vast yukata (summer kimono) Yoshimitsu was X-rayed and tested to a fare-thee-well...
...Shimizu gave Yoshimitsu generous injections (up to 30 mg. a day) of testosterone and other hormones for almost a year to slow his growth and help build his strength. Last March Dr. Shimizu performed a drastic operation. He opened Yoshimitsu's skull across the forehead and probed past vital brain substance to get at the deep-hidden, almost inaccessible pituitary. Then he removed the tumor...
Last week the young giant was almost ready to go home. But what to do? Dr. Shimizu would not let him join a stage troupe (too insecure). Yoshimitsu was getting both muscle-building and morale-building exercises to help him ignore the stares of passersby. Said he: "I hate to leave this wonderful hospital, but I am a grownup now, so I must face it." At 7 ft. 7 in. he is indeed grown up, but mercifully, he will probably grow no more...
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