A woman has finally had a seven stone tumour removed after 18 years living with it growing inside her.
Before the operation, Devgadh Baria, 56, from India, was unable to leave her bed because of the impact the growth on her stomach wall was having on her body.
The tumour is believed to have been there for almost two decades, and in that time, the pressure caused her organs to slowly move.
By the time of her surgery on 27 January, the tumour was squeezing her blood vessels and affecting her blood pressure.
Doctors were unable to weigh her before the surgery, but the tumour weighed 7st 5lb and they also removed another stone of abdominal wall tissue and excess skin.
Now, her body weighs 7st 10lb, meaning the total removed is more than her current weight.
The mass is the biggest non-ovarian tumour ever removed in India.
Chief surgical gastroenterologist Dr. Chirag Desai: “It was a high-risk surgery as the woman’s internal organs such as liver, heart, lungs, kidneys, and uterus were displaced because of the pressure created by the tumour in the stomach wall.
“Getting a CT scan done was also difficult as the size of the tumour obstructed the gantry of the CT scan machine.”
Surgeon Dr. Nitin Singhal added: “Fibroids are common in many women in the reproductive age group, but rarely does it grow this big.”
The woman first noticed the problem in 2004 when she had unexplained weight gain.
Initially, she tried alternative medicines but when the problem continued to get worse, she got an ultrasound scan.
The scan revealed the benign tumour and she chose to have surgery but during the operation, doctors found it was attached to internal organs and it was too risky to remove at that time.
The tumour continued to grow and in the last two years, it doubled in size, affecting her quality of life.
Desperate, she approached the team of eight doctors at Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad, who agreed to perform the risky operation on 27 January.
The woman was released from hospital on 14 February and is now recovering well.
In other news, Mum reveals how her brain ‘popped’ and caused a stroke as she picked up her daughter on a hike
