New Jersey surgeons removed a rapidly growing, 51-pound (23-kg)
cancerous tumour from a 65 year old woman (Evelyn), who had delayed treatment for more than a month
until she became eligible for health insurance, her doctor said on Tuesday. Dr. David Dupree,led the surgery at Riverview Medical Centre in Red Bank, New
Jersey.
Evelyn noticed discomfort in her abdomen and that her normally 120-pound
frame was rapidly ballooning. Dupree said she sought medical help on June 4,
just days after her 65th birthday, when she would qualify for Medicare, the
U.S. healthcare program for seniors.
He said."The reason she didn't go earlier was because she had no
insurance," She weighed more than 170 pounds, her legs were swollen with trapped blood,
she was badly dehydrated, and, scans showed, the tumour - a malignant sarcoma -
was crushing her inferior vena cava, one of the main veins returning blood to
the heart, and putting her life in danger. See image of tumour (
Graphic Image
Warning)
