2kg cancerous tumor the size of a basketball removed from Long Island resident's liver

Long Island father-of-four had no idea a rare cancer was taking over his body until doctors removed a 2-pound, basketball-sized tumor from his liver, reports ABC7.

Doctors at South Shore University Hospital removed a tumor from 43-year-old Margarito Banos of Central Islip in March in an operation that took eight hours.

“He saved my life,” Banos said tearfully to Dr. Gary Deutsch, who led the surgical team.

On the subject: From nurse-oncologist to patients: cancer in life turned out to be much worse than in theory

Doctors discovered the tumor in August 2020, when Banos was hospitalized due to severe digestive problems. At first they tried to cure the tumor with chemotherapy, but the tumor did not decrease. In addition, the tumor produced hormones that damaged the heart of the patient.

Banos, a professional carpenter, was almost sent to a hospice. But as a last resort, the doctors made the bold decision to operate. “This tumor was slowly killing him,” Deutsch explained. “And we decided to make a heroic attempt to remove it.”

The Banos family persuaded him to have the operation.

“I insisted: “You have to fight this,” said Sister Raquel Diaz. - You are a soldier. You are the one who can overcome this.”

According to the doctor, they removed 95% of the tumor and two-thirds of Banos' liver. But the doctors were unable to remove the entire tumor without harming the rest of the liver. Dr. Deutsch said that Banos' liver is recovering and functioning properly.

He called the operation pacifying: “It means taking someone from the hospice for a walk around the city and spending time with his family.”

Dr. Deutsch believes the tumor is likely to grow back, but doctors are ready to fight it in the future.

“We still have a lot of tricks up our sleeve,” said Dr. Deutsch.

Banos is due to undergo heart valve replacement surgery in the near future due to damage caused by hormones released from the tumor. But he is hopeful for the future.

“Everything will be fine in my life,” he assured.