Dr. Arthur Spohn

This case is not important, except for the enormous size of the tumor. Mrs. G., age 43, the mother of seven children, had been suffering for several years with an ovarian tumor. During this time she had been tapped frequently. When called to see her, imagine my surprise on entering her room to find on the bed an immense mass as large as a barrel. I could not see the woman, but looking over the mass could just see her head attached to it like an appendix. The tumor came almost up to her chin, and extended to midway between her knees and feet. When she lay on her side on a three-quarter bed it had to be supported on two chairs. She could not reach her navel with her hands by one and one-half feet and was so emaciated that without her tumor companion would hardly make a shadow. She could only take nourishment by the spoonful, and seldom retained it. When they wished to move her they rolled the tumor, and she went with it. I had seen Professor Goodell, of Philadelphia, remove a very large tumor, the patient dying on the table. I removed one myself weighing 166 pounds, the patient dying in a few hours. I had little to expect from this case. In the other cases the tumors had not been reduced before operation, death being caused by collapse. I decided to reduce this tumor for one week, and with a small trocar succeeded in removing thirty gallons of a gelatinous fluid. On opening the abdomen I found many adhesions at points where she had been tapped. The tumor was of the left ovary, multicystic. I opened one cyst of large size, removing over six gallons. The thickened sac, removed with difficulty on account of adhesions, weighed 40 pounds, giving the tumor, as near as I could estimate[,] a total weight of 328 pounds. In closing the incision I had great difficulty getting the abdominal walls in satisfactory shape. There was so much serum and blood escaping that I was compelled to open a part of the incision and insert large pieces of gauze for drainage, treating the abdomen partly open. It took two months to close the abdomen. The patient made a good recovery. I was assisted by Drs. H. Spohn and H. J. Hamilton, of Laredo; anesthetic used, chloroform.