Story highlights James Boysen, 55, says he's relieved and ready to get back to his favorite activities

Doctors performed the complex 15-hour surgery on May 22

(CNN) A man who suffered from a rare form of cancer has received a first-of-its-kind surgery, doctors in Texas said.

Doctors performed the surgery on James Boysen at Houston Methodist Hospital on May 22. It was noteworthy because Boysen got a skull and scalp transplant at the same time as kidney and pancreas transplants, the hospital said.

Boysen, 55, a software developer from Austin, "is the first patient to receive the simultaneous craniofacial tissue transplant together with solid organ transplants," the hospital said in a statement.

'A long journey'

Boysen said he's relieved and ready to get back to his favorite activities.

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