Seven-year-old Nottingham girl had tumour as big as a grapefruit in her stomach

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD who was complaining of stomach-ache had to have a tumour the size of a grapefruit removed just four days later.

Ellie-Louise Lewis was taken into hospital with suspected gastroenteritis, but over the next couple of days her stomach ballooned in size.

She was diagnosed as suffering from a rare form of cancer and had a life-saving operation to remove a 12cm tumour.

Her mum Rachel said the tumour and surrounding fluid weighed about four kilos. "She was massive," she said. "If she wasn't seven, I would have thought she was pregnant.

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"She had that grey colour that people have when they look like they're going to die.

"Everyone was shocked. You just don't expect this to happen to your daughter."

The Carlton youngster's condition, juvenile granulosa cell tumour of the ovary, has only been seen two or three times in the last decade in Nottingham.

Professor Richard Grundy, who is Ellie-Louise's consultant, said: "The tumour is life-threatening. We had to seek international guidance on how best to treat her. We had plans to operate but she became increasingly unwell over the weekend.

"It was a large tumour in a small girl. It's a relatively difficult operation and she came through it very well."

Ellie's family are so thankful to the doctors and nurses that treated her they will be raising money for the children's cancer ward at the QMC.