Woman Lives With 2kg Tumour That Makes Her Look Pregnant

Story ByAngjela TrajkovskaSub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyCEN

This woman has spent the past 24 months with a huge 2kg deadly stomach tumour which has inflated her abdomen because medics refuse to authorise an operation to have it removed.

The 51-year-old woman, identified as Gloria Ramirez was reportedly diagnosed with the malignant tumour over 24 months ago in the capital city of Colombia, Bogota.

In the photos, Ramirez can be seen with belly grossly inflated from the malignant tumour, which reportedly weighs two kilogrammes.

Pictures Credit: CEN

She can be seen sitting with a nasal cannula providing her with oxygen and bandaging on her stomach.

Ramirez says she was told she needed surgery when she visited a doctor in Bogota but her health provider EPS Coomeva only authorised her to undergo a biopsy and chemotherapy.

In Colombia, the function of an Entidades Promotoras de Salud (Health Promoting Entity) EPS is to sell health service packages to the public, and contract such services with a healthcare-providing institution.

Gloria’s daughter Marcela Ramirez told local media that the EPS only gave her mother morphine and acetaminophen to calm the pain, refusing to contract her an operation. 

Local media Noticias RPTV state that EPS Coomeva are not financing the operation because they do not have the resources to pay for it or the post-surgery treatment.

For that reason, the woman decided to move to another healthcare contractor named EPS Sanitas but she was told she had to wait until June before the organisation could organise for her to be provided with medical attention.

Doctor Sonia Gonzales, a specialist in holistic medicine, told reporters that the woman’s health is becoming complicated because the tumour has affected her kidneys, intestinal flora, pancreas and lungs.

Maria Estela Ordonez, the mother-in-law of one of Ramirez’s children, said: “I’m calling for EPS Coomeva end their negligence and look after the patients who really need medical attention. Because she has always paid her insurance punctually.”