A woman who thought she was just putting on weight was astonished when doctors found a 44-lb tumour in her stomach.
The giant growth had been dismissed as extra flab until patient Ivanka Murgic, 58, consulted medics in Gospic, Croatia.
Images taken before the operation show Ivanka with a hugely swollen tummy which she had dismissed as a middle-aged spread.
Scans showed she had a 20-kilogramme (44-lb) tumour growing inside her which surgeon Darko Milinovic removed in a “tricky” operation.
Milinovic, who was once Croatia’s Health Minister for three years, revealed the op on his Facebook profile on 10th August.
He said: “I am posting this at the request of a patient.
“She said to me ‘Doctor I want to praise all of you. I don’t want this kind of care and expertise to go unnoticed.'”
He added: “So far, it is the largest tumour we have operated on and it weighed about 20 kilogrammes.
“It was tricky, and Ivanka is home today with her loved ones.”
Delighted Ivanka told the medic that not only had her tumour gone but her figure had come back too.
She said: “You are like a plastic surgeon, my huge stomach is now completely flat.”
Milinovic added: “I wish her good luck going forward and I thank you for believing that we could operate on it.”
Ivanka told local media that she was not even aware she had a tumour inside her.
She said: “I didn’t have any difficulties, my stomach just started to grow.
“I thought that I had gained weight, and then that I might have some kind of indigestion or intestinal problems.
“I am doing all this to send an invitation to all women, mothers, girls, all the elderly.
“That they regularly go for check-ups, and examinations, so that they can be diagnosed as soon as possible before it is too late.
“Because – it is never too late when it is discovered in time”.
Milinovic told local media: “We’ve known each other for years. She didn’t pay attention, she thought she was getting fat.
“And she hadn’t been for an examination in years. Only when the pains became severe, she decided to come in.
“Such operations with a tumour of around 20 kilogrammes are always risky, but she trusted me.”
He added: “I have come across large tumours before, but so far the largest had weighed 10 kilogrammes [22 lbs]”.
Milinovic said: “I would also like to thank the team, without whom this would not have been possible: Dr Vrkljan, Dr Marinkovic, anaesthesiologist Kovacevic, instrument technician Ratkovic, and instrument technician Lenic.”
