Doctors look for orange-size lump, find 56-pounder

Surgeons ended up removing a 56-pound (23-kilogram) tumor from the 54-year-old woman. It was 19 inches (50 centimeters) across.

“At first sight, one could see it was going to be a big tumour, but not that big,” said Dr Oscar Lopez, leader of the surgical team that operated on the woman at Gandulfo Hospital in the city of Lomas de Zamora.

A biopsy determined the growth removed at Gandulfo Hospital was a sarcoma, a malignant tumor, and the patient is being monitored by doctors after spending five days in the hospital following the surgery.

The woman, a housewife, who prefers to remain anonymous, weighed 343 pounds (140 kilograms) at the time of the surgery, which lasted four hours and involved eight surgeons- about double the time and staff usually needed.

Lopez said the woman had felt a constant growth in her abdomen for a year and a half, but just thought she was gaining weight. Finally, she consulted doctors and it was determined she needed surgery, and the tumor was removed a couple of months ago, he said.

“We thought the tumor could be reduced to an orange’s size, but it was totally solid,” he said.