Local

Doctors successfully remove massive tumor from woman's stomach

ATLANTA — Doctors completed surgery Tuesday afternoon to remove a massive tumor from a local woman's stomach.
 
Channel 2's Amy Napier Viteri spoke with the surgeon who removed that cystic tumor. He said the growth was attached to several of Doris Lewis' internal organs, including the wall of her stomach.
 
His portion of the surgery alone took four hours, but we're told it went well and without this surgery that tumor would have continued to grow.
 
"(We're) very thankful and relieved. It's just so overwhelming and I'm thankful and I'm happy she was able to make it," Lewis' daughter Sarina told Viteri.
 
Sarina Lewis cried tears of relief immediately after doctors at Emory University Hospital Midtown successfully removed the giant fluid-filled growth.
 
"It was very frightening seeing her sick, seeing her throwing up, seeing this thing in her stomach," Lewis said.
 
Doris Lewis talked to Channel 2 Action News last month about her difficulty finding a doctor willing to remove the large benign tumor since she didn't have health insurance.
 
Doris Lewis initially thought the tumor was just excessive weight gain. Eventually the pain was so severe she called 911 and ended up at Emory, where doctors agreed to operate.
 
"As this thing had grown, it had displaced her internal organs up and to the left," Dr. Alan Gordon said about the tumor.
 
Gordon said the cystic tumor had attached to Lewis' stomach wall and eventually her small intestine and other organs, making surgery extremely delicate. The growth was filled with so much fluid it ruptured during the procedure. 
 
"A total of about 12 to 13 liters, so that would be about 27 to 28 pounds of fluid," Gordon said.
 
Gordon said without surgery, the tumor would have continued to grow and could have affected Lewis' breathing and digestive system.
 
Her daughter told Viteri she's thankful for all the prayers and looking forward to seeing her mother. 
 
"It will be so much better when I get to see her face and just see her alive," Sarina Lewis said.
 
The family said they're also extremely thankful to the staff at Emory.
 
Doctors said the tumor had actually been growing slowly over a period of years. They said Lewis will be at Emory for the next several days and they plan on having her up and trying to move around as early as Wednesday.