Keely Favell was only 24 years old when her stomach began to grow. Keely couldn’t understand her sudden weight gain, but her fear of doctors kept her from receiving a diagnosis. She was constantly being led astray with her doctors’ advice until her body reached its breaking point…
Loving Herself
Keely never felt that she was the skinniest girl ever, but her weight was never a problem for her. Then, things changed drastically in 2014.
Staying Healthy
Keely was a self-proclaimed health nut. She worked out regularly and made it a point to eat clean. When she began to put on some weight, it didn’t make sense to her. Her diet and workout routine hadn’t changed, so the weight gain was odd.
Trying to Control It
She began to notice a lot of her weight was being held in her stomach. “I was exercising and eating healthily but I was slowly getting bigger. It crept up so slowly I didn’t know anything was wrong—I thought I was putting on timber.”
Nothing Felt Different
She wasn’t sick or feeling badly, her energy levels were the same and she was getting the same amount of sleep. The only change she could report is her weird weight gain…
Changing Body
Instead of trying to get to the bottom of this, she decided to keep moving forward and virtually ignore it. But, she did end up thinking about it nearly every day. It was plaguing her.
What Was Happening?
The lower part of her abdomen became hard and sensitive to the touch. These were new symptoms… She wasn’ t sure what was going on. She hoped it would go away on its own…
Trying to Live a Normal Life
Keely was a size 14 prior to these symptoms. She began to really worry when she could only fit into a size 22. This definitely wasn’t normal.
Scared and Confused
At this point, there only seemed to be one answer… Otherwise, this bizarre weight gain wouldn’t make sense.
The Obvious Answer
Keely had been with her partner, Jamie, for ten years at this point. Her weight gain, swollen belly, and increasing fatigue could really only mean one thing… She was pregnant.
Not Trying for Kids
This was a bit of a scary revelation for the couple. If she was pregnant, it was an accident. The couple was scared of the results and hesitated to take a pregnancy test…
Not the Case
She finally took the test, and when she got it back… It was negative. They weren’t ready to be relieved just yet. False negatives can happen, so Keely took another test just to be sure.
Another Negative
The second test confirmed it: She wasn’t pregnant. But, why was she feeling like this?
Fear of Doctors
She knew she had to go to the doctor, but kept putting it off…Â “Having grown up with a dad as a doctor, I had become a bit of a medical coward, so seeing the GP was not my first option,” Keely said.Â
Out of Options
She was extremely worried the doctor would dismiss her weight gain as “merely being fat” which, unfortunately, was their initial diagnosis…what else could she do? This has been something that her doctors scolded out about for her entire life. She was never the right “thin” for them…
Ignoring the Concerns
Keely knew something was seriously wrong with her body. This wasn’t just fat. At this point, she was able to ignore it as it wasn’t impacting her daily life just yet…
Breaking Point
A whopping two years went by. Keely’s stomach was still growing at a bizarre rate. She knew something was wrong, and yet, none of her doctors took her seriously. At work, Keely passed out. Now, she had the doctors’ true attention.
Stress
“It was a tough period in work and when I passed out my GP put it down to stress,” she said. So now, she’s just fat and stressed. Some doctors…
Shut Down
She wanted to believe what her doctor said was true, but she knew something wasn’t right. Why was her belly hard to the touch?
Getting Worse
Soon after her doctor’s appointment, Keely’s condition began to escalate. Her weight continued to increase, as did the width of her stomach.
Looking Pregnant
Keely’s swelling skyrocketed. She truly looked pregnant… “Anyone would have thought I was nine months gone. It wasn’t the first time I’d been mistaken for an expectant mum…”
Insecure
This was officially affecting her day-to-day life.”People had seen me waddling around, carrying this lump, and I’d been asked a few times when I was due,” she said.Â
Clothing Nightmare
“I’d go along with it to spare everyone’s blushes,” Keely said. “I remember trying to shop for clothes in December 2016 and nothing would fit. I was skin and bone on top, then this massive lump and normal legs. The only thing that was going to fit was maternity wear.”Â
It Happened Again
Keely was trusting her doctor and kept on living her life… Her belly continued to grow, but she tried as best she could to ignore it. Then, she was hit with another fainting spell…
Side Effect
She was sick of this. She went back to the doctor and demanded answers. They told her that the fainting was a side effect of her acne medication… Which she hadn’t taken in six months.
Demanding Answers
Keely was sick of being written off by her doctors. She that she asked the doctors, “Could it be anything to do with this?” as she pointed to her belly. They wanted to test for pregnancy. She complied but knew it wasn’t going to turn up anything.
Bloodwork
Her GP went ahead with the blood test for pregnancy. Just as Keely thught, it was negative. The doctor then suggested an ultrasound.
Something Wasn’t Right
Keely laid on her back, something hard to do as that hindered her breathing.. “I saw her eyes widen in horror but the screen was blank. The look on her face said it all. When she said she had to get a consultant I started to panic. Jamie did his best to reassure me but I felt paralyzed with fear.”
A Cyst
The ultrasound just showed a giant black mass. Keely was terrified, and so was the doctor. The doctor said it wasn’t a tumor, but a huge cyst.
Emergency Scan
They immediately got Keely in for an emergency CT scan. Now, all of a sudden, they decided that time was of the essence. As it turns out, KEely had a 25-centimeter-thick sac of fluid in her stomach.
Surgery
They referred Keely to a high-risk obstetrics consultant. One month later, they sat down to discuss her options.”By this time, even walking was a struggle and I had difficulty breathing,” she said.
Scary News
“I’ll never forget the look of shock on his face when the consultant examined me,” Keely said. “He said I had a large ovarian mass and the only option was surgery. He couldn’t say what it was exactly, or how big. He warned me there might be more than one and they could be attached to other organs.”
A Mystery
She was terrified. “Until they opened me up, no one knew what they would find,” she said. The doctors can only guess it was a cyst full of liquid, but it could be something worse…
Under the Knife
Keely’s surgery was scheduled for four weeks after the consultation. In that time, her stomach swelled another five inches.
Five Hours Later
The surgery ran for a whopping five hours. The surgeons removed a cyst that weighed 60 pounds—as much as seven newborn babies. The cyst accounted for one-third of her body weight.
Life-Changing
One week after surgery, Keely felt like a different person. “I lost sight of how difficult even simple things like driving a car or walking up the stairs had become,” she said. “Losing my lump gave me my life back.”
Medical Mystery
When she woke up from surgery, the doctors were more than excited to show her the cyst. They were all shocked by it! She couldn’t believe she had been walking around carrying this “medical alien” inside of her… The doctors were even surprised that she could move with that thing attached to her…
Returning to Normal
Keely was left with a 30-centimeter scar that runs from her sternum to her pelvis. Soon after the surgery, she was walking around, enjoying feeling 60 pounds lighter!
Living Free
Keely lost her right ovary in the surgery, but doctors believe she could still get pregnant with a healthy baby. At this point in time, her biggest problem has become the appearance of her stomach. “At 28 and even though I’ve never been pregnant, I’ve been left with stretch marks!” she said. She doesn’t hate the, though, as they remind her of one of her biggest struggles that she’s overcome.Â