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330-Pound Man's Skin-Removal Surgery Live Tweeted By New York Times Reporter

GRAPHIC Tweets Show 330-Pound Man's Skin Removal Surgery

Paul Mason got some weight off his shoulders on Tuesday afternoon -- and the world followed along on Twitter.

The formerly 980-pound man was dubbed the "world's fattest man" before he dropped 650 pounds after a gastric bypass surgery five years ago. Mason lost even more weight on Tuesday when surgeons in Manhattan lopped off pounds of excess skin, according to The New York Times.

The 54-year-old, roughly 330-pound Brit couldn't find a doctor who would perform the surgery in England, so he moved to the U.S., where weight loss surgery is our bread and butter.

Lyall has been with Mason every step of the way. She's documented how his initial bypass enabled him to get out of bed and move on his own for the first time in years. She celebrated with him after a New York plastic surgeon offered to take off the extra skin for free. And just after noon on Tuesday, as a team of surgeons at Lenox Hill Hospital operated on Mason, Lyall shared his surgery with the world.

Lyall told The Huffington Post that approximately 50 pounds of skin were removed Tuesday, with the rest to come off in subsequent surgeries. Much to her followers' dismay, Lyall tweeted out graphic images of the skin-removal surgery that, while interesting, do not go well with lunch. Her tweets are below.

WARNING: The following photos show a bloody skin-removal surgery.

Four plastic surgeons are working on his abdomen, to remove a huge apron of skin hanging way down.

— Sarah Lyall (@sarahlyall) April 28, 2015

One problem is the extraordinary amount of blood vessels that need to be cut and sutured or stapled.

— Sarah Lyall (@sarahlyall) April 28, 2015

24 pounds of loose skin pic.twitter.com/QNkdwR7sNt

— Sarah Lyall (@sarahlyall) April 28, 2015

And now the doctors are closing the huge abdominal wound and will start to remove another huge section of skin from the legs.

— Sarah Lyall (@sarahlyall) April 28, 2015

Rags used to mop up the blood in the surgery. pic.twitter.com/sBVP3vBUmj

— Sarah Lyall (@sarahlyall) April 28, 2015

The OR floor. pic.twitter.com/riYFHGyMpM

— Sarah Lyall (@sarahlyall) April 28, 2015

Sorry for graphic images! This is such an extraordinary thing and these surgeons are amazing.

— Sarah Lyall (@sarahlyall) April 28, 2015

(This one is particularly graphic): Excess skin, still attached to leg, the next part to be removed. pic.twitter.com/QscoBbLwP8

— Sarah Lyall (@sarahlyall) April 28, 2015

Apparently the excess skin, alas, cannot be used again, e.g. for burn victims.

— Sarah Lyall (@sarahlyall) April 28, 2015

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that Mason weighed 650 pounds when he went into surgery Tuesday. He actually lost 650 pounds since his gastric bypass.

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