A teen whose swollen belly made her look as though she was pregnant was shocked to discover she had a football-sized cyst in her stomach.
Abi Chadwick, 19, went from a size 12 to a size 18 within the space of a few months, with most of the weight being around her stomach.
She became desperate to lose weight after people started to tell her she looked as though she was nine-months pregnant.
But despite going on a diet, Abi was unable to shift her bulging stomach.
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She also began to feel sick and was feeling full up after eating a single piece of toast.
Abi eventually visited a doctor when she began to experience sharp pains in her stomach and in March this year was told she had a 13-inch cyst in her abdomen.
Abi, a care assistant, from Cannock, Staffordshire, said: "My stomach was rock hard and when I used to go out to the shops people used to tell me I looked nine months pregnant.
"It made me feel bad because I couldn't lose the weight even though I wanted to.
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"I was relieved when I was told it was a cyst the size of a football.
"I just wanted it gone."
Abi says she first realised something wasn't right when she gained a lot of weight in a short time.
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She said: "Every time I had two mouthfuls of toast I would be absolutely stuffed - I couldn't figure out why.
"I couldn't eat anymore so that really took its toll.
"People kept telling me I was pregnant, and I thought it was just because I was fat and there was nothing I could do so I brushed it off.
"I can understand why they said it though now because I didn't look like I had done.
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"But in the moment you don't think anything of it."
Things went from bad to worse when she started to suffer with 'agonising' pains in her stomach.
"I couldn't really walk or bend over," she said.
"I went to work, and they thought I had a UTI but everything was normal after I got tested.
"The pain didn't stop so I went to A&E and they thought it was appendicitis or kidney stones.
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"But after getting checked over again they couldn't find anything, I didn't know what to do."
A scan on her stomach revealed the huge cyst which was removed on 13 April.
She added: "I was so relieved when I finally got it removed and I feel like myself again.
"I'm yet to see anyone that's had one that big.
"I thought the cyst would be small and it would go but I realised my stomach was all cyst.
"I'm glad I don't look pregnant anymore, but I can't believe I was walking around like that for so long."
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: UK News