Horror behind the inexplicable weight gain of the woman

For months Kayla Rahn suffered from abdominal pain, swelling and shortness of breath.

She had also gained pounds and gained weight, which seemed impossible to lose. People would ask if she was pregnant – maybe even with twins? – And when she was due. They also volunteered to load groceries for her.

"I told them that I was going to call him Taco Bell," the Washington Post said about the jokes that she was in the habit of making in response to

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It's only recently that Rahn learned what was really going on: A cyst of the size of a melon d & # 39; As water grew in her ovary Rahn was operated on at the end of May to remove her ovary and 50-pound (22-kilogram) cyst, the largest one her surgeon said to have ever extracted. 19659002] Officials from Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, Ala., Announced the surgery in a press release this week and said that Rahn had a mucinous cystadenoma, a benign cystic tumor in the ovary. Since she was abducted, Rahn said that she lost 75 kilos (34 kilos) – and her surgeon said that they were "excited that things were going well for her."

"It was not a fun surgery, and there were painful moments," Rahn said Friday. "But I had such a great support system, I had no chance to worry about anything."

After months of health problems and no solution, Rahn said her mother had taken her to the Jackson Hospital emergency department, not far from where she lives.

There, says Rahn, the doctors discovered a huge mass in her abdomen, telling her later that she was in one of her ovaries – and that they had to be sure they were there. get rid of it right away.

Rahn She said that she was relieved to finally have some answers.

"I remember crying every time we talked about it," she says.

When the doctors told him what they had found, Rahn did not seem surprised. says Gregory Jones, a gynecologist at the hospital.

"She knew something was wrong," said Jones, one of Rahn's surgeons. "What was interesting was that she had never had the shock and fear, she had this relief, like," Of course, there is a mass. " ""

Rahn – mostly reassured but still worried – was rushed to an operating room at the hospital The following day, May 26, she stated:

Her surgeons have confirmed that 39, it was an ovarian cyst and removed it.

Rahn was kept in the intensive care unit for two days. explained that once the body has been decompressed, some patients may experience changes in blood pressure or electrolyte problems or kidney problems.But Rahn, he says, has done "extremely well" "

Ovarian cysts are common and generally harmless.Many women do not even know that they have them because the cysts come and go without causing any problems, according to the Mayo Clinic.

However, in cases where the cysts do not dissolve themselves, they can cause doubly ur and bloating .. when it is not treated, it can force the ovary to twist or break, causing internal bleeding, according to the Mayo Clinic.

It is not known how long Rahn had the cyst, but his surgeon estimated that it was over a year old. Rahn has an incision that extends from her chest to her pelvis, but she says that she is healing – and that she is regaining confidence in herself, by wearing clothes in which she does not. Has not been able to get used to it for quite some time.

She has a message for others: listen to your body and defend yourself. It is important, she says, that people ask for answers to their medical problems.

His surgeon agreed.

"She was asking for help from several doctors, and we had missed her – as a medical community we had missed," said Jones, stressing the need for patients to ask for more information. Help and for their doctors to listen to them.