US woman feels ‘like a person again’ after removing ovarian cyst the size of huge watermelon

Ms Allison Fisher had the 47kg cyst surgically removed from her abdomen at Ascension St Vincent’s Riverside hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. PHOTO: ASCENSION ST. VINCENT'S

A 20-year-old woman swelled to nearly 230kg carrying an ovarian cyst the size of a huge watermelon for a year.

Not wanting to head down the same path as her mother, whom she watched struggle with cancer, Ms Allison Fisher finally got the cyst surgically removed from her abdomen at Ascension St Vincent’s Riverside hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.

Before the operation, Ms Fisher said the mass was so large that she felt like she was pregnant with 10 children. She could not bend over or see her feet.

Ovarian cysts are sacs, usually filled with fluid, that can form in or on the surface of the ovary. The cyst measured about 50cm and weighed 47kg, accounting for a fifth of her body weight.

Ms Fisher regularly faced stomach pain, bloating, and even experienced a period that lasted an entire year. But she put off seeing doctors, fearing the cost and hoping that it would just “go away”.

With the tumour removed via a minimally invasive robotic technique, she said it has “saved her life” and given her a new lease on normalcy.

“I feel so much lighter. I feel like a person, I can wear clothes, I can do things that normal people can do.”

Doctors said they have also managed to save Ms Fisher’s fertility by untangling her left ovary, which was a normal size but was twisted three times.

Ms Fisher is also learning to drive and is working towards getting gastric bypass surgery to help with her weight.

Ms Fisher said the mass was so large that she felt like she was pregnant with 10 children. She could not bend over or see her feet. PHOTO: ST. VINCENT’S RIVERSIDE

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