A 29-year-old woman from Dallas, Texas who kept gaining weight in her stomach no matter how much she dieted and exercised learned last month that she actually had a 17 lb. cancerous tumor growing in her abdomen.
Amanda Shoultz first started noticing that her stomach was getting bigger at the beginning of 2021 — as as the months went by, it continued to grow, even as she cut dairy, gluten, and meat from her diet.
Tests came back normal, too, until last month when a gastroenterologist performed a CT scan and discovered a 33 cm. tumor, which was removed two days later — leaving her light enough that she’s now trying to put weight back on.
Shocking: A woman from Dallas, Texas who kept gaining weight in her stomach learned last month that she actually had a 17 lb. cancerous tumor growing in her abdomen
Unexpected: Amanda Shoultz, 29, first started noticing that her stomach was getting bigger at the beginning of 2021, but dieting and exercising didn’t help
Shoultz told WFAA that she first noticed her stomach changing in January, but assumed her metabolism was slowing down and her body was changing with age.
‘I had noticed I was slowly starting to gain weight over the years, but I just thought it was part of getting older,’ she said. ‘But this, my stomach almost looked like I was bloated all the time.’
She upped her diet and exercise regimen in an effort to drop the pounds, but found no success.
‘I started working out more. I was dieting more and, oddly enough, I was losing weight but I was gaining inches in my stomach,’ she told Good Morning America. ‘For the longest time, I thought, “Oh, I just must gain weight in my stomach.”‘
Shoultz was responsible about her health, making an appointment with her doctor for her annual checkup in February.
Her blood work came back normal, but she was shocked by how much she weighed.
Found it: In September, a CT scan revealed a 33 cm. tumor in her abdomen
Health scare: It was cancerous and had formed around her right kidney and adrenal gland — which all needed to be removed
‘I remember telling her, “The next time you see me I’m going to be 10 lbs. lighter,”‘ she said. ‘I just assumed it was my fault. That I had done something wrong.’
She continued to work at shedding pounds, trying different diets to find one that worked. She gave up dairy, then gluten, then meat, all with no impact on her waistline.
But while she felt no pain, her stomach continued to grow, and also became ‘hard as a rock.’
‘I knew that something was wrong because I’ve always had a hard time gaining weight,’ said Shoultz. ‘When I was getting so large in my abdomen and I couldn’t control it, that’s when I knew something was off.’
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So in August, Schoultz went to see a gastroenterologist, who ran several tests and sent her for a CT scan.
That’s how she learned she had a 33 cm. tumor in her abdomen, which had formed around her right kidney and adrenal gland.
Wow! Fortunately, the cancer hadn’t spread — but the tumor alone weighed a whopping 17 lbs.
‘I was in so much shock that I wasn’t processing anything. It was very eye-opening,’ she said
‘Life throws us curveballs — and this one hit me straight in the face,’ she added on Instagram
The doctor diagnosed her with liposarcoma, a rare type of cancer that develops in fatty tissue and can show up anywhere in the body but is common in the abdomen.
‘I was in so much shock that I wasn’t processing anything. It was very eye-opening,’ she said.
‘Life throws us curveballs — and this one hit me straight in the face,’ she added on Instagram.
She quickly underwent surgery at Baylor University Medical Center to remove the tumor, as well as one kidney and part of her adrenal gland.
Fortunately, the cancer hadn’t spread — but the tumor alone weighed a whopping 17 lbs.
Lessons: Now Schoultz, who works in healthcare marketing at the hospital where her surgery was performed, is urging others to listen to their gut
‘Listen to your body because no one knows it better than you,’ Shoultz said. ‘If all the tests are coming back fine and you still see changes in your body — go to your doctor’
‘When I woke up, and they told me it weighed that much, I remember being like, I think I misheard you because of the medication I’m on,’ she recalled. ‘That’s massive.’
But with the tumor — which weighed about as much as a seven-month-old baby — removed, Schoultz’s stomach went back to normal.
Now Schoultz, who works in healthcare marketing at the hospital where her surgery was performed, is urging others to listen to their gut — figuratively, that is.
‘Listen to your body because no one knows it better than you,’ Shoultz said. ‘If all the tests are coming back fine and you still see changes in your body — go to your doctor.
‘We preach it at the hospital, don’t die of doubt,’ she went on. ‘No one else is going to need to fight for you, so fight for yourself and find a care team that is going to care for you through the journey.’
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