Unable to be treated in Afghanistan, pregnant woman has surgery in Delhi

According to the hospital, the patient had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when she was five and a half months pregnant. Waiting for the delivery before surgical management would risk the spread of the cancer and chemotherapy was not possible due to her pregnancy, while surgery was made challenging by the advanced stage of her pregnancy. Her tumour was removed using the Whipple Procedure which, while common for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, is rarely done on pregnant women.

“The surgery took 4 hours. We were able to perform it without ‘moving the baby’ and the postoperative tests showed complete tumour removal and a healthy baby. Fahima had a smooth post-operative recovery and was discharged after 7 days. In a standard Whipple’s operation, we remove cancerous tumour together with head of pancreas, remove part of the stomach, small intestine, gallbladder, bile duct, and lymph nodes and reattach remaining organs (allowing for the normal digestion of food). This was a complex procedure considering the cancerous area and uterus were very close to one another,” said Dr Amit Javed, director of Gastrointestinal Oncology, who conducted the treatment.