During life-saving surgery, doctors removed a 47.5-pound (21.5 kg) tumor from an Arizona womans abdomen.

The doctors removed a liposarcoma, a cancer in the abdominal muscle, that had invaded her inferior vena cava -- the body's largest vein.


"If the tumor had been let go, it would have killed me," DiCaro, of Tucson, said in a statement. "I'm happy to be going on walks and getting back in the pool and getting out and enjoying life."

Her insurance company would only pay a small portion of the surgery, so it was cancelled in 2013.

DiCaro was able to get insurance that would cover pre-existing conditions this year because of a provision in the 2010 Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform law. She underwent surgery on April 17.