Mini football-size fibroid removed from Filipina’s womb in UAE

Dubai - “I had ignored my bloated stomach. However later, I learnt a lesson never to ignore a health hazard,” said Arroyo, an Abu Dhabi resident.

Filipino expat Sarah Opiana Arroyo has had an unusual bulge in her abdomen for quite some time but she didn’t pay much attention, thinking iy was probably weight gain. Doctors later found that she had a 15cm fibroid — as big as a 24-week-old foetus and a mini football.

“I had ignored my bloated stomach. However later, I learnt a lesson never to ignore a health hazard,” said Arroyo, an Abu Dhabi resident.

Doctors in Abu Dhabi recently performed a major surgery to remove the massive uterine fibroid, which could have led to multiple complications, such as damage to vital organs, and put paid to her hopes of becoming a mother.

Dr Nazura Siddiqi, obstetrics and gynecology specialist at the hospital, said: “Fibroids are fairly common but they rarely grow to such a large size. She didn’t pay any attention to the huge bulge in her stomach. She was thinking that she was gaining weight.

“She came to us with acute pain, as the fibroid was putting pressure on the ureters, which is connected to her kidneys. She had also developed a urinary tract infection. If left untreated, her condition could have become life-threatening. Also, she wouldn’t have become a mother ever.”

The medical team, led by Dr Nazura and Dr Hala El Sayed Ali Hassan, were on the job in no time.

They opted for an open myomectomy instead of minimal invasive surgery, or laparoscopy.

“The surgical procedure of myomectomy was challenging in Sarah’s case. We took into consideration that she may bleed heavily. We had factored in an additional procedure of hysterectomy. However, we didn’t require blood transfusion in the end,” Dr Nazura added.

Sarah and her Arab husband were relieved, as she was discharged from the hospital on the third day after the surgery, glowing in the afterthought of her motherhood in the near future.

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi