Faye Louise, a 40-year-old British woman, received “the best Christmas gift.” After a year and a half of battling cancer that could have been fatal, the patient is officially in remission. Although she had begun to organize her funeral in 2023, she was even able to resume her activity as a flight dispatcher at London’s Gatwick airport, according to the BBC.
It all started with a “mundane” operation for an ovarian cyst, which at first she even perceived as menstrual pain. As required by protocol, during this operation the doctors also removed the appendix, since the lesions on it could also be associated with the cyst. And that was indeed the case.
The doctors, after analyzing the biopsy, gave him a diagnosis of “pseudomyxoma peritonei”, an “extremely serious pathology”, as gynecological surgeon Bruno Deval explains to BFMTV.com.
“Pseudomyxoma peritonei is an extremely serious pathology, the source of the ‘gelatinous disease of the peritoneum’ (a membrane of the abdomen, editor’s note). It causes low-grade cancerous lesions in the peritoneal cells and produces gelatin,” he explains. Thus, an untreated patient can end up with “liters of jelly” in the abdomen.
“It’s happened to me twice in my career, it’s scary,” says the specialist.
“He was at risk of death in horrible conditions”
To treat the patient, British doctors had to perform a new operation, which required removing 8 non-vital organs to save her life. The “eight anatomical elements at risk of being affected by cancer cells,” the doctor specifies.
So, during this extensive abdominal surgery, surgeons removed her appendix, spleen, gallbladder, appendix, ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes, navel, omentum, and part of her liver. For this treatment, doctors also performed hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.
Although the price to pay may seem significant, the British woman escaped a painful death. “She was saved by the kindness of the London surgeons who followed the recommendations,” insists Bruno Deval.
“If the heart is removed it must be replaced, if a kidney is removed it must be replaced, etc. They are vital organs. The uterus, without wanting to be brutal, is not a vital organ, we can live without it.” “.
“He ran the risk of dying in horrible conditions. In two cases I operated on gelatinous diseases of the peritoneum. These are interventions that leave a mark. You open the stomach and there is so much gelatin that you have to remove it with cupped hands. It affects the entire abdomen and pelvis, “It’s horrible.”
The truth is that it is a delicate operation. And long. Approximately 4 to 6 hours for surgery and 3 to 5 hours for chemotherapy. “So we are in the operating room all day,” explains the surgeon.
Monitor relapse
Faye Louise is officially in remission. But his medical appointments are not over. As he explained to the BBC, he will continue to have tests every year in November to make sure he does not experience a relapse.
“Waiting for the results will be for me, unfortunately, the key to success or failure every Christmas, but you have to keep going and never give up,” he told the media. While waiting for this annual meeting, in addition to his work, he will be involved in fundraising to support cancer research.
Source: BFM TV
