Space hopper-sized tumour weighing 68lbs removed from woman’s stomach

Space hopper-sized tumour weighing 68lbs removed from woman’s stomach

Mangalore Today News Network

Sep 18, 2016: The huge 68lb growth was removed from Stoja Popovic after the woman had let it grow and grow without ever going to the doctor.

 

The woman had flat-out refused to go, despite growing concerns from friends and family about the ever larger lump that had starting to protrude from her belly over the years.

She explained: "At first I thought I was putting on weight, but very soon I realised there was something wrong. But I didn’t feel pain... so I just continued to live as usual."

 

However one day, she got injured working in a field and needed treatment for her leg. An ambulance crew arrived but they were much more concerned about her massive stomach than her leg and decided to take her to hospital.

Experts at the Bosnian University Clinical Centre in the capital Sarajevo said the tumour had to be removed immediately.

Medics quoted in local media said that the growth had started in one of her ovaries before slowly taking up her whole uterus - which was also removed in the surgery - and continuing to expand to its humongous size.

 

After a four-hour operation, a team led by surgeon Zoran Anicic and gynaecologist Vesna Ecim-Zlojutro, both doctors in University Clinic Centre in Banja Luka, removed the tumour.

Stoja, from Banja Luka in Bosnia, is now recovering from the surgery at home after having spent a few days in hospital.

Stoja told local media: "I would have never gone to a doctor if I hadn’t hurt my leg."

A statement from the hospital read: "The diagnosis confirmed the existence of a tumour of a large size inside her abdomen. Due to the extensive surgery, several specialists from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology were included in the team as well as some from the Clinic for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

"The surgery lasted four hours and ended successfully."