When nurse Suze Lopez arrived at Cedars-Sinai, she believed she was finally having a large tumor removed from her uterus. The growth had caused her pain for years, and surgery felt like the long-overdue answer.
Suze, 41, from Bakersfield, California, expected nothing more than routine pre-surgery tests. Instead, those tests revealed something no one was expecting, she was pregnant, and she also had a 22-pound tumor.
She already had one child from her early 20s and had spent years trying unsuccessfully to conceive again. Over time, she accepted it was not going to happen, especially with a massive growth taking up space in her body.
So when a pregnancy test came back positive, the result was confusing and alarming. At her age, doctors initially believed it might point to a more serious medical issue rather than an actual pregnancy.
Suze said in a statement from the hospital: “Because of the large ovarian cyst that had been growing for years, it could have been a false positive, even ovarian cancer.”
Days later, she began experiencing intense abdominal pain. Doctors performed further scans and quickly realized this was no routine case.
The hospital’s director of labor and delivery explained that Suze was pregnant, but her uterus was completely empty. A giant benign ovarian cyst, weighing more than 20 pounds, had pushed everything aside.
Doctors then found a nearly full term baby boy growing in a small space in her abdomen, near her liver, with his body resting against the uterus. A pregnancy developing that far outside the uterus and surviving is considered almost unheard of.
Suze shared her disbelief, saying: “I was used to very irregular periods and some abdominal discomfort. I could not believe that after 17 years of praying, and trying, for a second child, that I was actually pregnant.”
Despite the joy, the medical team knew the risks were severe. Abdominal ectopic pregnancies carry extremely high mortality rates, and hopes of delivering the baby alive were low.
The hospital assembled a team of 30 doctors and specialists. Their goal was to remove both the massive tumor and deliver the baby safely.
Against all odds, baby Ryu was born weighing eight pounds.
Suze’s husband said: “He is our gift. And Ryu and Suze are my miracles … many prayers have been answered.”
Suze later added: “I appreciate every little thing. Everything. Every day is a gift and I’m never going to waste it.
“God gave me this baby so that he could be an example to the world that God exists – that miracles, modern-day miracles, do happen.”
