A WOMAN is seeking life-changing surgery to deal with a colossal 40kg tumour on her left leg and hip. Karina Rodini, 30, from Curitiba, Brazil, has neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a condition that causes tumours to grow along the nerves. Karina had small brown patches on her skin from the age of eight or nine, but at age 14 her more substantial “plexiform” tumours began to grow - including the one on her left leg and hip, which started as a freckle and expanded until it reached its present size. Karina says that the tumour’s size has attracted unwanted attention, including bullying as she was growing up. She said: “There was always bullying, because it’s something different. You walk on the street, people can see you are different, it’s impossible not to look.” Karina’s condition means she has to get a seamstress to custom-make her clothes and can only walk short distances. Karina has already had 10 surgeries but says each time some tumour tissue is removed, it grows back even faster. She said: “I am the first case in my family. When I have a surgery sometimes to remove 1kg, at the next surgery it’s already 2 or 3kg bigger.” Karina’s sister Patricia has found a surgeon willing to remove her sister’s largest tumour - but Karina now has to raise the funds needed for the operation, which will leave her hospitalised for six months after the surgery. Karina said: “I imagine living without this tumour, I imagine its complete removal, and I imagine a better quality of life - that’s what I hope for.” https://www.instagram.com/superandoaneurofibromatose/
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