A stuntman knew his body was changing. It took doctors nearly a decade to figure out why.

When Ray Kohn started feeling pain in his knees and elbows in 2015, he attributed it to his work as a stunt driver and mechanic.

But as the years went on, he began to notice his body changing in unusual ways: His head grew so much that he needed a larger helmet, and his hands became so big he had to have his wedding ring resized three times. His voice changed. His teeth shifted in his mouth, creating an underbite. He gained over 100 pounds despite his extremely active lifestyle, and he was constantly hungry no matter what he ate. 

Meanwhile, the pain in his knees and elbows continued. Cortisone shots, meant to reduce inflammation and pain, never lasted long. In 2019, he had the first of three knee surgeries. Later, he’d have operations on his elbow. Nothing worked. No doctor he saw had an answer — even as knee pain forced him to cling to the wall to walk. 

“I was falling apart, and I didn’t know why,” Kohn, now 47, said.

Looking at videos from past stunt work showed the extent of the changes.

“I was like ‘Look how much I changed. I’m not growing old. I’m actually transforming.’ Why is this happening?” 

In the fall of 2022, Kohn went to a dermatologist after noticing lines form on his head. The doctor asked to see his hands and commented on their size. Then, she looked at his tongue, eyebrows and other facial features, and sent him for blood tests that found he had abnormally high hormone levels. Those results sent him to see Dr. Divya Yogi-Morren, an endocrinologist with Cleveland Clinic who specializes in pituitary diseases.

“I went into the clinic room and I took one look at him and I already knew what he had, just from looking at him and shaking his hand,” Yogi-Morren told CBS News.

She fetched her coworker, Cleveland Clinic neuroendocrinologist Dr. Varun R. Kshettry, with whom she usually sees patients, because she knew his expertise would also be needed.

Yogi-Morren and Kshettry said Kohn had the clinical features of a disease called acromegaly, a rare illness that causes the body to produce too much human growth hormone. The disease is often caused by a tumor on the pituitary gland, and brain surgery is the first line of treatment. Wrestler Andre the Giant, who died of congestive heart failure at 46, also had the condition, which causes cardiac complications. 

“They said ‘If you don’t get this…