Woman looks like she’s pregnant with 10 children – Then she sees scans and can’t believe her eyes

You go on a diet, but you continue to gain weight. You notice your arms and legs are getting thinner, but your stomach is growing. You begin to wonder what’s happening. Is there a diet in the world that causes this? No, there isn’t.

A 24-year-old woman in Mexico experienced just this. Everyone kept telling her that she was surely pregnant. Her stomach had swelled so much in just a few months, but the truth was altogether different and significantly scarier.

When her situation became so bad that she had trouble walking, eating, and even breathing, the woman was taken to Mexico General Hospital. After being admitted, the 24-year-old met Dr. Erik Hanson Viana. He took no time at all in sending the woman for scans.

When the pictures came back, a scary realization was made. The doctors had discovered an ovarian cyst that had grown to such giant proportions as to threaten her life. The cyst, weighing an incredible 33 kilograms, had begun to compress the two main blood vessels in her body. As a result, she was at a high risk of a heart attack, and immediate surgery was necessary.

“It was so large that it took up 95 percent of the patient’s abdomen,” Dr. Viana said.

For the surgeons, there were two options: either they could slowly drain the cyst of liquid and then remove the remnants via an operation, or they could immediately remove the cyst in its entirety. Although sure to leave a big scar, the woman opted for the latter route, which proved to be an extremely risky procedure.

“To remove it whole is also difficult because the cyst wall is less than one millimeter thin and needs to be prevented from drying out, otherwise it could easily break too,” Dr. Viana explained.

Since up to 20 percent of all giant cysts are malignant, a cracked cyst could have resulted in tumor cells spreading through the woman’s body. But the doctors executed the operation perfectly. The surgery went ahead without complications, and the cyst was removed safely.

After the surgery, the 24-year-old’s stomach shrank back to normal size. She was actually able to leave the hospital just two days later, 33 kilos lighter. As expected, she had plenty of excess skin and some bad scarring, but those were small prices to pay for her life.

Six months later, the woman returned to the hospital for a routine follow-up. Thankfully, she was as healthy as she had ever been and could walk about like a normal person without the aid of walking sticks or assistance.

“A big part of what we do is the gratification you feel when you can change a person’s life completely, and knowing that they will never forget you, even if they forget to say thank you,” Dr. Viana said.

It is truly amazing to see what skilled surgeons and doctors can achieve these days. Although the medical realities were gruesome, it is difficult not to be deeply impressed with what the team at the hospital accomplished.