Tina The Tumor

Sarah posing the night before surgery. Sarah, and Julie Keyes (Julie is 19 weeks pregnant). Sarah gets her first baby gift from Megan Larsen.
Pre-surgery: Sarah begged not to wear the "ugly hospital socks", she even brought her own from home. It was a "no go".
Tina is born (6 litters of fluid were drained before they could remove Tina).
Tina and the surgeon's hand.
Post surgery: Best Friends by her side, visitors, flowers, feeling crummy, and finally going home.
Comparison shot: Pre-Tina; Post Tina (I made her wear the same shirt).

Sarah has been complaining about her protruding stomach for some time. We have seen numerous doctors who believed it was a result of exercising improperly, thus the stomach muscles have formed outward. We accepted this explanation for a couple years, until recently, when Sarah googled the causes of a protruding stomach, and informed me that she may have a fibrous tumor. The next day I made two appointments , with two different doctors, to have her examined (different than the doctors she had previously seen). The appointments were several weeks out.

In the meantime, she met with her friend's dad (who is a physician) who immediately requested an ultrasound. On September 15, she went to the IHC hospital for an ultrasound on her lower and upper abdomen. The ultrasound results revealed a 19 centimeter tumor, that was attached to her ovary. It was so large that it was backing one of her kidneys with fluid.

Sarah laughed and laughed as we sat in the "bad news" room, getting her results. I was in shock, and quiet terrified. I quickly called my OB, who, when he saw the results, wanted to see her the next day.

The next day we met with the OB who informed us, that the tumor was as large as a small watermelon. The tumor was either attached to or leaning against the ureter, and kidney. He wouldn't know exactly what it was attached to until he began the surgery. He did know that it was attached to an ovary, and that the ovary would most likely would have to be removed. He informed us that it was important to dissect the tumor off of the things it was attached to, and get it out in one piece, in case there were cancer cells in it. Surgery was set for September 30th.

A CA 125 blood test was performed. If the test came back "normal", there was little chance of the tumor being malignant. If it was elevated, the chance was greater. Early the next week, her results came back showing her level to be slightly elevated.

Even with the blood results, Sarah maintained a positive, cheerful, outlook. She was always laughing, joking, and even named her tumor - Tina. I tried to follow her example, but wasn't very successful.

Surgery went better than expected. He removed the tumor that was larger than expected, draining 6 litters of fluid out of it before he removed it from her tiny little body. He removed 4 other small cysts, reconstructed her ovary, and removed the fallopian tube that was engulfed in the tumor. The surgeon informed us that based on the amount of fluid that was drained, and by other examination, he would be very surprised if pathology came back showing a malignant tumor.

Sarah remained to good spirit even up to the very end. The surgeon said she was laughing and joking with them, up until the time the anesthesia kicked it. What a trooper!

She is doing remarkable well, considering just having major surgery. Pathology came back, and it was a non malignant tumor. Cancer free yay!

We are so grateful for the many prayers, fasting, and the amazing priesthood blessing that she received prior to her surgery. We felt that the Lord blessed us, and watched over Sarah during this difficult time. What a blessing it is for us to have such wonderful friends and family that continue to support us as we experience life's bumps along the way.