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Tanya, 31, has acromeglia, a rare form of gigantism, which causes the body
to overproduce growth hormone.
Sufferers are very tall, but in Tanya's case, her entire frame has grown in
proportion, leading to her putting on 24 stone, while her shoe size has
doubled from a standard UK size 6, to a UK14.
She has also grown more than a foot, and now towers over everyone else at
6ft 8ins.
Doctors told Tanya if they couldn't halt her rapid growth, her heart would
be put under too much stress and give out.
Tanya's quest for a cure will be documented on I'm Turning Into A Giant on
Channel 4's Bodyshock series at 10pm on Tuesday.
Tanya, from Las Vegas, Nevada, was only struck down with the unusual illness
in her late teens.
Looking back on pictures of herself as a pretty, slim, teenager, it's hard
for Tanya not to get emotional about how the disorder has changed her body
and her life, beyond all recognition.
'I was 5ft 8ins and a size 10, I loved horseriding, dancing and just having
fun like a normal teenager,' she said.
'I had a boyfriend, an apartment, a job I loved, I just loved my life.'
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