A woman in Connecticut with 132-pound tumor removed

A Connecticut woman's 132-pound tumor was removed by a team of doctors at Danbury Hospital on Feb. 14, 2018. The 38-year-old unidentified woman lost 185 pounds following the surgery. (Danbury Hospital), according to reports.

The anonymous patient's extremely aggressive, non-cancerous lump began growing at a rate of 10 pounds per week in November until
it evolved into the mass that was removed in February by a team of 12 surgeons over five hours. It's assumed to be one of the largest ever of its kind.

"Tumors this big are exceedingly rare," lead surgeon Dr. Vaagn Andikyan told CNN. "It may be in the top 10 or 20 tumors of this size removed worldwide."

The "mucinous" (filled with a substance akin to gelatin) tumor sprung from the patient's epithelial cells in her ovary.

"During the surgery, we removed this gigantic tumor that originated from her left ovary," Andikyan said. "We removed her left ovary, her left (fallopian) tube, and we removed the affected peritoneal tissue that was adhering to the ovary."

The benign mass didn't spread to any of the patient's other organs, but its size made it a threat to her life and her only means of mobility was a wheelchair.

About six pounds-worth of the woman's abdominal wall and excess skin had to be removed along with the tumor and her stomach area needed to be reconstructed after the growth was removed.

Andikyan said he "saw fear in the patient's eyes," and that she had been to other doctors who turned her away. But the surgical team was able to give her her life back as a teacher — complete with the option to still have children if she'd like.

"The good part about this story is, we were able to save her reproductive organs," the doctor said. "She's back to a normal life, she's back to work, and when I saw her in my office, I saw smiles, I saw hope, and I saw a happy woman who is back to her normal life and her family."