Woman who died six times while doctors tried to remove 40lbs tumor explains how it made her see the ‘world differently’
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Family Handout
A woman who remarkably died six times while doctors attempted to remove a mammoth 40lbs tumor has detailed her changed perspective on life.
Health professionals removed two tumors from Ariana Pulido's ovaries in July 2023 when she was just 22-years-old.
After the ordeal, Ariana thought she was in the clear, but she found herself in hospital again just a month later after a sharp and sudden pain appeared in her shoulder.
Subsequent scans found a third fast-growing tumor on her liver, which experts tried to treat with chemotherapy, sadly to no avail.
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Surgery became the only viable option, but even that was providing huge complications for doctors trying to save Ariana.
Her heart flatlined six times when they tried to put her to sleep for the surgery, with the team eventually concluding there was nothing they could do for her.
As per Cedars Sinai, Ariana said of the ordeal: "The doctors came out of the surgery and told my mom they couldn’t move forward with the surgery because I couldn’t go under anaesthesia without flatlining. They said the next best step for me would be hospice care.”
However, she was transferred to another hospital where she underwent a complicated operation in May 2024 that saw a machine perform the function of her heart and lungs.
The 14-hour surgery, which involved more than a dozen surgeons, allowed experts to gradually remove the tumor.
Dr Cristina Ferrone, an oncologist who led the treatment, said: "The tumor was so large and heavy, and it involved such essential blood vessels, that if you injure them, it would be very, very difficult to repair them.
"And an injury like that could quickly lead to death on the operating room table."
Meanwhile, Ariana added: "The only one that could decide if I do go or stay on that surgery table would be God. And I just had really high hopes and faith that I was going to make it through."
Thankfully, the operation was a major success, to the point where Ariana was walking again just weeks after the risky procedure.
"When she returned to the clinic a month later, the entire staff and I were amazed," Dr Ferrone added.
"Just six weeks earlier, she had been wheeled in, in a wheelchair. Now she walked through the doors. She's an incredibly strong young woman and has a wonderfully supportive family."
Now happily married, Ariana is excited for what the future has in store.
She said: "I feel really good. I feel like a new person. I see the world differently. Every day is a positive day."