His stomach never seemed to settle. In 2012, Werner Ziolkowski from Hamilton experienced such persistent digestive troubles that he was hesitant to leave the house unless absolutely necessary.

“I thought my upset stomach might have been related to a hernia operation I had the year before,” recalls Werner. “But scans revealed it was something entirely different.”

When a 20-pound tumour was discovered growing on his liver, Werner was placed under the care of the hepatobiliary cancer team at Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre. The tumour, which was one of the largest of its kind ever recorded, was malignant and required surgery.

“I was relieved when I heard the diagnosis because I finally knew the cause of my digestive problems and something was going to be done about it,” says Werner.

Delicate surgery for a large growth

The operation took several hours as the surgical team carefully navigated around blood vessels, nerves and other delicate structures. Ultimately, the team was able to remove the entire tumour in one piece.

No other signs of cancer were found in Werner’s body, so it appeared that the surgery was successful.

“Once the tumour was taken out, my digestive system went back to normal right away,” explains Werner. “I had annual scans for the next five years. Luckily, the cancer never came back.”

To this day, Werner remains cancer-free and he is enjoying every moment of his retirement. The removal of the tumour improved Werner’s quality of life greatly and he is no longer hesitant to leave the house.

“I’m grateful that such an amazing team looked after me at Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre. Life is good and I’m here today because of them.”