Larissa, a 66-year-old woman started experiencing sudden changes in her lower belly. It seemed like it turned bigger out of the blue, but she didn’t really think much of it at first. Why? Because she simply believed it was just a sign of aging, or even stress. Well, she was nearing her seventies already, and she was convinced bodies just change at that age. At times, she blamed it on the bread,as there were days when she would look herself in the mirror and say something along the lines of, “Too much bread again. No wonder this keeps growing.”

Her friends all noticed her belly but they convinced her it could be the stress or even the hormones. Some of them even suggested she should get more sleep.

Larissa herself blamed bloating and her cooking. She knew it wasn’t a big deal and that it would eventually go away by itself. During the nights when she felt her belly getting too heavy, she’d simply say to herself, “Indigestion, that’s all,” and roll over, trying to fall asleep.

However, as the weeks went by she could feel her clothes getting tighter and tighter. What’s more, she even avoided looking herself in the mirror because she didn’t like what she saw. And somehow, as she started realizing her bloating issues won’t just go away, she knew she needed to pay her doctor a visit, but somehow, she was too afraid because she had no idea what he would say.

Finally, on a Tuesday morning, she went to the hospital and asked doctors to run a few routine tests like blood work and ultrasound. The hospital was pretty busy that day, and that make her feel even more nervous than she was when she got there, but then she chatted with the receptionist, joked about her “squeaky knees” and her love of bread, and tried to convince herself to simply calm down.

However, when the doctor came back with the results, something about his face said something could be wrong.