Human body is a wonder in itself. It can heal itself of most of problems without the help of medicine. The whole system of the body id very complicated and it takes years of studies and knowledge to know how the intricate system of human body works. In a story which most people won’t believe, a 91 year old woman who had carried a lump in her stomach for 61 odd years received a pleasant shock when doctors performed a scan on her belly and found that the lump was something that was not harmful, yet it had a story behind it.
Estela Meléndez is 91 years old woman who lives in the Chilean town of La Boca. She had a lump on her belly for many years which pained occasionally. She said that the lump was not interfering in day to day life and it just pained a little which was manageable with medicines. At the age of 91, Estela developed age related diseases like arthritis and loss of hearing. Otherwise, she is all fine and does most of the house work herself. But some days back she fell while walking and when she was taken to the hospital for the scans, the doctors found that the lump in her stomach was nothing but was diagnosed as a tumor. The doctors immediately decided to operate upon her, but due to her age, they decided to x-ray her in color this time to see what the tumor looked like and whether they could do without surgery. What they found in the x-ray astonished everyone including Estela. Go to the next slide to find out what did the doctors found.
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The fateful injury to Estela made doctors perform scans on her and one of the scans found something so rare in her stomach lump that the doctors were actually astonished and Estela was not only surprised but also became emotional. The lump that the doctors thought was a tumor turned out to be fetus. Estela had been carrying the remains of her baby who died in the womb and became calcified for 60 odd years. Her husband Manuel died in January of 2016 at the age of 91 and was a fisherman and boater in the town. Estela says that the only regret of the couple was that they were unable to have children. The condition is known as lithopedion or stone baby and it occurs when a pregnancy goes wrong and a layer of calcium forms around the fetus to protect the mother from its dead tissue. This dead fetus was the reason why Melendez couldn’t have children for the rest of her life. She says that she doesn’t remember being pregnant. The doctors decided against operating on Ms. Melendez due to her age and the fact that the fetus wasn’t harming her in any way.
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