According to a report form the New York Daily News, doctors have removed a 27-pound tumor from 59-year-old Doris Lewis’ belly.

The Daily News says that the uninsured Georgia woman tried in vain to find a hospital that would be willing to perform the surgery. Fortunately, Emory University Hospital agreed to help her and she underwent an 8-hour procedure to have the growth removed.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Lewis first thought the tumor was just weight gain, but the pain became so intolerable that she had to seek medical attention.

Dr. Alan Gordon, the surgeon who removed the growth, told WSB-TV Channel 2 that the tumor was attached to a few of the woman’s internal organs, as well as the wall of her stomach. According to Gordon, without surgery, the tumor would have continued to increase in size and could have impacted the woman’s breathing and digestive system.

“[We’re] very thankful and relieved. It’s just so overwhelming and I’m thankful and I’m happy she was able to make it,” Lewis’ daughter Sarina told Channel 2’s Amy Napier Viteri.