Doctors Thought This Woman Was Pregnant, But She Actually Had A Tumor

A British woman's supposed pregnancy turned out to be a tumor "the size of a football" on her ovary.

According to Daily Mail, 26-year-old Louise Bryant of Maidstone, England began experiencing sharp stomach pains and bleeding between periods in March 2014.

She took a pregnancy test, but it came back negative. So she decided to seek professional help.

Bryant said,

Still, the doctors kept asking me to take more tests, because they were confused by the bloating... I'd then started to get pain in my back, I was going to the toilet more often and I'd lost my appetite.

Bryant underwent a total of seven tests over the course of 12 weeks before a scan conducted last spring finally uncovered the source of her immense pain.

There was a tumor measuring roughly 6 to 8 inches on her right ovary.

The tumor put pressure on Bryant's lungs, making it very hard to breathe.

Doctors at Maidstone Hospital spent approximately four hours removing the tumor as well as Bryant's ovary and fallopian tube.

She said,

I was in hospital for five days and had to have three months off work to recover from the invasive surgery.

At some point not long after the operation, a biopsy revealed Bryant's tumor was actually a rare form of ovarian cancer that spread to her now-removed fallopian tube.

But the surgery cleared her of any further harm, and she is now cancer-free.

Bryant, whose blood is tested regularly for potential traces of the disease, is currently trying for her first child with Ben, her husband of three years.

Professor Hani Gabra, the director of the Ovarian Cancer Action research center, told Daily Mail tumors are sometimes "mistaken" for pregnancies due to the bloating and stomach growth they cause.

Should two or even just one pregnancy test come back negative, he said, the woman should notify a doctor.

Citations: Young woman who doctors believed was pregnant actually had FOOTBALL-sized cancerous tumour covering her ovary (Daily Mail)