I had a huge 35-pound cyst — people thought I was pregnant

A woman from England is celebrating a “life-changing” surgery after doctors removed a massive cyst that she says was so large it made her look pregnant.

Siobhan Foster, 26, began experiencing “excruciating” stomach pain in March 2022, and doctors later found a huge, 40cm (about 15.7 inches) cyst carrying 16 liters (around 4.2 gallons) of fluid on her broad ligament, which contains the blood vessels to the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus.

“I was very large, and I struggled with breathing,” Foster told South West News Service. “I struggled with eating.

“People were thinking, ‘She’s pregnant.’”

However, Foster’s road to surgery wasn’t an easy one.

She was delayed 11 months for the procedure, as she was placed on a waiting list to have the cyst removed by the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, which is the nation’s publicly funded healthcare system.

During those 11 months, Foster’s cyst grew to weigh 35 pounds — the size of a toddler.

She struggled to walk, and it was a challenge to leave the house. The 26-year-old even had to quit her job working in childcare because things became so difficult.

“I was very self-conscious,” Foster admitted. “I felt embarrassed.”

She described the cyst as looking like she had a “big lump” inside of her.

Thankfully, she was finally able to get the laparoscopic surgery, which took 4½ hours, this past June, at which time doctors drained 16 liters of fluid from the mass and removed it.

“The cyst was getting into a dangerous place – connecting to my kidney,” Foster said. “It was a shock.”

Foster stayed just one night in the hospital, and after three weeks of recovery, she’s back walking around and is feeling like a “new person.”

“The surgery has been life-changing,” Foster said. “It’s been the best thing.

“It’s like going to sleep and waking up three stone [42 pounds] lighter,” she continued. “Now I tell myself, ‘You look amazing.’ ”

Since the procedure, Foster said that she’s shrunk from a size 24 to a size 18 and is wearing crop tops and dresses.

Thankfully, the cyst was also benign.

“I see myself rather than looking at a lump,” Foster said.

“I feel like a new person in a new body.”