Nearly a week ago, on October 20, doctors at the Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI) successfully removed a 15-kg tumor from the abdomen of a 55-year-old resident of Santosphur in South Kolkata.

Monir Alam is recuperating well and will be released in a couple of days.

“For the last one year, I have been thinking that I have put on weight. I did not understand its dangers since I did not show any symptoms. Determined to lose weight, I started exercising a couple of months ago when I suddenly felt muscle pain. I then suspected that it was hernia and visited my doctor. After tests I was told that I had a huge tumor in my abdomen,” said Alam, an electrician in the defence ministry.

Radiological tests then revealed that Alam not only had a right side inguinal hernia but also a huge tumor inside his abdomen.

“The tumor was so massive that it had pushed organs like kidney, appendix, blood vessels, parts of small and large intestine to the left side. The tumor was partially malignant and if he did not have hernia, it would not have been diagnosed, and would have been fatal,” said Dr Bakshi.

Alam was admitted to the CMRI, where the medical team performed the operation for six hours on October 20. The team was headed by Dr Sanjay De Bakshi.