Faye Louise, a 40-year-old British woman, was operated on for pseudomyxoma peritonei, an “extremely serious pathology” as gynecological surgeon Bruno Deval explains to BFMTV.com. To save her, caregivers had to remove several non-vital organs including her spleen, uterus and part of her liver.
Faye Louise, a 40-year-old British woman, received “the best Christmas present”. After a year and a half of fighting a cancer that could have proved fatal, the patient is officially in remission. While she had started to organize her funeral in 2023, she was even able to resume her activity as a flight dispatcher at London's Gatwick airport, as told by the BBC.
It all started with a “mundane” operation for an ovarian cyst, which she had initially even perceived as period pain. As required by protocol, during this operation, the doctors also removed the appendix, as lesions in 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 'gelatinous disease of the peritoneum' (a membrane of the abdomen, Editor's note). It causes low-grade cancerous lesions of peritoneal cells and produces gelatin,” explains -he. Thus, an untreated patient can end up with “liters of gelatin” in the abdomen.
“It’s happened to me twice in my career, it’s scary,” says the specialist.
“She 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”, specifies the doctor.
So, during this extensive abdominal surgery, surgeons removed her appendix, spleen, gallbladder, appendix, ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes, navel, omentum and part of his 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 you remove the heart, you have to replace it, if you remove a kidney you have to replace it, etc. These are vital organs. The uterus, without wanting to be brutal, is not a vital organ, we can live without”.
“She was at risk of death in horrible conditions. I operated on gelatinous diseases of the peritoneum in two cases. These are interventions that leave a mark. You open the stomach and there is so much gelatin that it has to be removed with its cupped hands. It affects the entire abdomen and pelvis, it’s horrible.”
The fact remains that this is a delicate operation. And long. Approximately 4 to 6 hours for surgery and 3 to 5 hours for chemotherapy. “So it’s all day in the operating room,” explains the surgeon.
Monitor relapse
Faye Louise is officially in remission. But his medical appointments are not over. As she explained to the BBC, she will continue to have tests every year in November, to ensure she does not experience a relapse.
“Waiting for the results will unfortunately be the key to the success or failure of each Christmas for me. But you have to keep moving forward and never give up,” she told the media. While waiting for this annual meeting, in addition to her job, she will get involved in fundraising supporting cancer research.
