A Connecticut Woman Had a 132-Pound Ovarian Tumor Removed

Dr. Vaagn Andikyan, a gynecologic oncologist at Connecticut’s Danbury Hospital, had never seen anything like it. A 38-year-old woman had been referred to Andikyan after rapid weight gain — nearly 10 pounds a week over the course of two months — prompted her to seek medical attention. By the time she got to the hospital, a three-foot-wide, 132-pound ovarian tumor was taking up her entire abdomen. The tumor wasn’t cancerous, but it had caused her legs to swell so much that she couldn’t walk, leaving her wheelchair-bound. She was severely malnourished because of its position over her digestive tract, and her intestines had been pushed into her chest. She was desperate for relief. “I was very cautious. Nobody wants their patient to have a negative outcome,” Andikyan says. “What gave me a second wind was that we wanted to help the patient. When you have this internal feeling that you’re helping, positive thinking helps you to achieve your goal.” Photo via Danbury Hospital In the end, a team of almost 25 Danbury clinicians — including surgeons, cardiologists, gynecologists, physician’s assistants, anesthesiologists, nurses, operating room technicians and office staff — worked together to develop a treatment plan. On Valentine’s Day 2018, doctors carried out a five-hour surgery, which involved removing the tumor and reconstructing the patient’s abdomen all in the same procedure. The outcome, ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthytime medicine onetime Source Type: news