LVHN Surgeons Remove Ovarian Tumor Weighing 41 Pounds

Nadine Hooks, an Allentown resident of French-Canadian heritage, loves to cook things like poutine and toutons. However, as fall approached, she found herself uninterested in food and suffering from pain in her stomach. An Uber driver, Hooks had to cut down her hours because she felt so tired and drained. She chalked up her symptoms to “getting older.”

She had visited a 24-hour clinic, where staff told her her blood tests were normal and there was nothing to be concerned about. However, her abdomen was strangely distended and growing larger by the week. Certain she wasn’t pregnant, Hooks and her husband, Kevin, decided to go to Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest emergency room.

The clinicians there conducted a computed tomography (CT) scan. Once the results were ready, M. Bijoy Thomas, MD, Chief, Division of Gynecologic Oncology with Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute, sat down with the couple. “Dr. Thomas told me that I needed surgery right away, and that they were going to schedule me for that same week,” Hooks says. “He told me there was a mass on my right ovary the size of a watermelon.” 

Hooks says the clinical team was great and completed all the preoperative testing she needed in one day. She says she was scared, since she only had a few days to mentally prepare for a scenario that could include cancer. “It was very urgent to do something, since the tumor was pushing on her bowel and bladder,” Dr. Thomas says. “I was able to get her in in four days. My office staff was amazing.”

Dr. Thomas put Hooks at ease by explaining everything that was going to happen. He told her that, for her situation, the surgery would be traditional, with an incision extending from Hook’s chest to below her abdomen.

The removal of her tumor – weighing 41 pounds and measuring 12 by 14 inches – “went well and was uneventful,” according to Dr. Thomas. Because of the surgical skill of the team, there was minimal blood loss during and after the procedure. Hooks stayed in the hospital for two nights. She was discharged after receiving biopsy results that showed the tumor, known as an ovarian cystadenoma, was noncancerous. She was relieved but shocked as to why it had grown.

“Tumors like this grow for no good reason,” Dr. Thomas says. “It has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle.” 

While Hooks was recuperating at home, her mother-in-law came from New York to assist and cook for Nadine, Kevin and their three children. Their dog, Blue, was glad to have his mom home, too. Hooks had time to reflect and looked back at her experience with gratitude.

“I’m so thankful for Dr. Thomas,” she says. “They scheduled my follow-up with someone else, but Dr. Thomas switched his schedule so he could chat with me. All the people – from the transporters to the nurses in the emergency department – were great. Everyone was so friendly, soft-spoken and respectful. I love that hospital.”  

Experience matters significantly in a surgeon. M. Bijoy Thomas, MD, with Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute, performs open surgery as well as more than 20 robotic gynecologic surgeries each week, which is more than many others in his field will do in a year. His practice can often see you within two weeks or less. Make an appointment here.