Surgeons cut giant tumor from baby

updated 9:55 a.m. ET Oct. 30, 2008

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Doctors removed a tumor from an East Timorese baby that was almost one-third the child's body weight during a life-saving operation in New Zealand, officials said Thursday.

Surgeons cut out the 7.3-pound benign tumor on Sunday from the abdomen of 14-month-old Alex Gonzaga at Wellington Hospital, hospital spokeswoman Trish Lee said.

The boy weighed about 24 pounds before the surgery and is expected to make a full recovery with no long term consequences, Lee said.

Bill Day, president of the Port Nicholson Rotary Club that sponsored the project, said Alex was already eating, moving about and well on the way to recovery.

"He's looking good, he's standing up holding on to mum, smiling and playing with toys — throwing things on the floor — you wouldn't think there was anything wrong with him," he told The Associated Press.

Doctors expect the boy will be ready to go home in about 10 days.

His mother, Elisa Da Conceicao, said she was very happy with the operation and looking forward to breast-feeding her son again, Wellington's Dominion Post newspaper reported Wednesday.

The tumor originally was spotted by a doctor in impoverished East Timor and scanned on a visiting medical ship. The operation in New Zealand involved a surgical team of 10 doctors.

Surgical team leader Brendon Bowkett said Alex would have died if he had not had the operation, in which 10 surgeons removed the huge tumor mass from crucial structures, including the urinary tract.

MORE FROM KIDS AND PARENTING

Kids and parenting Section Front

How much homework is too much? Half of all bathtub injuries involve toddlers Get your kids off the sofa this summer 1 million play yards recalled due to faulty latch Coming of age in the years of living dangerously Survival tales: Readers share hazards of youth Jackson kids face hurdles coping with his death 400,000 cribs recalled after 8-month-old dies Many teens believe they’ll die young Newsweek: Summer camp enrollment declines Kids and parenting Section Front   Add Kids and parenting headlines to your news reader: