Thika doctors successfully remove a 16Kg. tumor from patient’s ovary.
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| Dr. Joseph Mukala (left) and Dr. Moses Njoroge check on |
A team of doctors from a Thika hospital late last week successfully
removed a huge ovarian cyst weighing 16kilogrammes from a patient that was almost
filling her whole abdomen.
46 year-old Fidelis Wanjiku Mulama had been referred to the
Central Memorial Hospital only for the CT scan to revealed that a huge
follicular cyst in her abdomen.
While narrating her 3-month ordeal, Mulama explained how she
noticed her stomach ‘growing bigger’ and thought that it was something to do
with her feeding habits.
“When I noticed that, I immediately started dieting but
instead, my stomach continued to grow bigger and bigger until it was no longer
bearable,” explained Mulama.
She visited several health centres in Ruiru who told her
that she had “water” in her stomach, a condition that could only be handled by
specialised doctors.
Due to the nurses’ strike, her only remedy was in the
private hospitals.
She arrived at The Central Memorial Hospital bearing back
aches, with prolonged pelvic pain and could hardly walk or breathe. The cyst
had already started straining some of her internal organs. So, after the scan
and diagnosis, the doctors embarked on the momentous task of removing the cyst.
The procedure to remove the cyst took the team of doctors
about four hours. Dr. Moses Njoroge, the hospital’s resident obstetric gynecologist
who led in the operation pointed out that they needed to prevent any injuries
on the organs that the cyst was compressing with its mass. He warned that any
form of rapture could risk spreading the cancerous cells to other organs.
“It was a risky procedure because the patient had earlier on
gone through a Caesarian section while delivering her second-born child. Secondly,
a 16kg cyst requires a lot of caution so as not to rapture its thin lining,” said
Dr. Njoroge.
He added that had she delayed further with the cyst, she
might have undergone excessive bleeding, subsequently damaging her organs.
“We would have been forced to put her under intensive care
first thereby delaying the whole operation,” he said.
A jovial Mulama can now express her joy of being offloaded the
16kg burden off her abdomen. She is now feeding well, gradually getting back to
her normal meal portions.
“I feel so good, way much lighter and gradually gaining my
strength back,” she sighed with relief.
She advises other women never to ignore any abnormality in
their bodies because, as she rightly put it, had she been diagnosed earlier, her
case wouldn’t have been as serious as she was this time.
“If you notice any kind of pain or discomfort in your ovary
area, you might want to book an appointment with your doctor to get it checked
out,” she advises.
Dr. Njoroge describes ovarian cysts basically as a solid or
fluid-filled sac or pocket that's found within or on the surface of an ovary.
“One in five women will develop ovarian cyst at some point
in their lives and 8% of premenopausal women develop large cysts that
need treatment like in the case of Mulama,” explains the doctor.
His colleague Dr. Joseph Mukala who is a general surgeon advises
every woman to go for routine screening so that such problems can get detected
early.
Research has shown that majority of women develop ovarian
cyst during pregnancy. The symptoms do not present themselves and neither the
mother nor the foetus is in danger. But if the cysts are over 6-8 cm in size,
complications could arise and can be fatal to the mother and the baby.
During a woman’s menstrual cycle, an egg grows in a sac
called a follicle that is located inside the ovaries. The follicle or sac is
supposed to break open and release an egg. But if the follicle doesn’t break
open, the fluid inside the follicle can form a cyst on the ovary and grow up to
about seven centimetres in diameter thus necessitating its removal through a
surgical procedure.
Most women will experience a cyst on the ovaries at least
once, and most are painless, cause no symptoms, and are discovered during a
routine pelvic exam. Most ovarian cysts are benign and naturally go away on
their own without treatment. These cysts cause little, if any, symptoms.
The symptoms of an ovarian cyst include nausea, vomiting,
bloating, painful bowel movements and pain during sex. In rare cases, an
ovarian cyst can cause serious problems, so it’s best to have it checked by
your doctor.
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