For months, Savannah Stuthers was told the intense pain and bleeding she was experiencing was just due to ‘hormones’.
But the truth was far more disturbing: for the 20-year-old student had unknowingly spent her entire life growing a teratoma, a rare type of tumour, inside her body.
By the time it was removed, eight months after the pain started, it was large – 10cm by 10cm – and had developed hair, fat, three fully formed teeth and what appeared to be an eyeball.
‘When I found out what had been inside me, I was horrified,’ says Savannah.
‘I felt sick. I couldn’t believe it had been growing in me for 18 years – doctors told me it had been growing there since birth.’
Anyone – men, women, even children – can develop a teratoma, also called a dermoid cyst.
It is a sac filled with fluid and body tissues often including hair, skin, fat and even teeth or bone.
They form from germ cells, the cells that eventually become egg or sperm cells but due to an abnormality develop into teratomas.
These can be present from birth and grow slowly over time, ‘or they can grow more quickly – it differs – and have the potential to grow very large, even as big as 15cm’, explains Dr Samantha Joseph, a GP who specialises in gynaecology, based in North London.
Typically they appear as lumps on the head or neck, but they may also develop on the spine or ovaries.
Savannah’s was an ovarian teratoma – which is the most common form of cyst found on the ovary and most often occurs in the under 40s.
‘Teratomas in the ovaries are found typically in younger women,’ says Shree Datta, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist based at The Portland Hospital for Women and Children in London.
Savannah’s cyst an ovarian teratoma – which is the most common form found on the ovary and most often occurs in the under 40s
Savannah posted a story time – a video of her explaining what had happened
They can grow over time and despite being normally harmless, they may be surgically removed as ‘very rarely, they can become cancerous and spread to other parts of the body’, she adds.
Yet most grow undetected unless they start to cause symptoms.
‘Dermoid cysts in the ovaries can present with discomfort or an aching, heavy sensation in the abdomen that can worsen during sexual intercourse, or abdominal bloating and fullness,’ says Dr Joseph.
‘They can also cause changes to menstruation with irregular or heavy bleeding.’
Not only is there a very small risk – around 1 per cent – of them becoming cancerous, ovarian teratomas can also rupture, spilling the fluid they contain into the pelvis, which can cause infection ‘or they can cause the ovary to twist’, adds Dr Joseph.
This twisting – called ‘ovarian torsion’ happens if the cyst grows large enough to twist the ligaments that hold the ovary in place – ‘causing sharp pain and blocking blood flow to the organ – this can sometimes lead to severe infection so emergency surgery is required’.
Savannah was 18 and in her first year at university when her symptoms began.
Having gained weight on the Pill, she opted to switch to a different form of contraception, a non-hormonal copper IUD (i.e. the coil).
‘Having it put in was agony – I was gripping my mum’s hand and it honestly felt like I was dying,’ recalls Savannah, who is from Arkansas in the US.
After the procedure, she was still in pain – and now bleeding most days. Yet doctors repeatedly reassured her that it was to be expected while her body adjusted to the coil.
‘But the bleeding was awful and I was walking hunched over because of the pain,’ says Savannah.
‘My mouth dropped open when Mum told me what they removed, she even took a photo of my face because I looked so shocked’
The video in which Savannah showed the cyst (pictured) went viral overnight
‘It was light bleeding but consistent – it felt like my body was trying to tell me something was very wrong.’
She went back to her doctor multiple times: ‘My mum and I asked if I could have a scan to make sure the IUD was placed correctly, but we were told it wasn’t necessary.’
The bleeding worsened until one day in October 2023 – eight months after the IUD was put in – she went to the loo and was shocked by the amount of blood she was passing.
‘I’d never seen so much blood before, it was like something from a horror film,’ says Savannah.
‘It was really scary. I guessed my IUD must have moved.’
She went to A&E, where an ultrasound scan revealed a large 8cm ovarian cyst.
‘More than anything, the doctor was concerned about its size and told me I’d need surgery immediately before it twisted and killed my ovary.’
Just three days later, Savannah was wheeled into surgery to remove the cyst.
Doctors initially planned to drain the cyst via routine keyhole procedure but when they inserted a tube through her belly button the cyst didn’t drain and was even larger than expected, at 10cm x 10cm.
Surgeons had no choice but to perform open surgery to remove both the cyst and the ovary.
But even they were stunned to discover the cyst was a teratoma.
‘It had hair, fat, molars and what looked like an eyeball,’ says Savannah.
‘My mouth dropped open when Mum told me what they removed, she even took a photo of my face because I looked so shocked.
‘This mass of cells had been feeding off me my whole life – as doctors think it first developed when I was in my mum’s womb. I was horrified, yet relieved it was no longer in my body.’
Savannah’s recovery was gruelling and painful.
She was left with three scars: one by her belly button, one on her hip, and a large red scar low on her abdomen from the open surgery.
‘When I returned to uni, I couldn’t get in or out of bed without my friends helping me,’ she says.
‘I was so moody from the pain meds I had to stop taking them, but that made everything worse.’
Savannah discovered that the teratoma had absorbed so much calcium from her body that she believes it may have contributed to her dental issues.
‘I was about eight when one of my teeth broke and I had to get a silver cap,’ she recalls.
‘I was diagnosed with hypocalcemia, a condition where your calcium levels in your blood are too low. The teratoma made us realise where all my calcium had been going – into the cyst.’
Savannah, pictured on her 20th birthday, is frustrated her cyst went undetected for so long
A year after her teratoma surgery, Savannah developed a 4cm cyst on her remaining ovary.
‘I was experiencing irregular bleeding again as well as sharp pains in my lower abdomen,’ says Savannah.
‘I took myself to A&E because I was so terrified to lose my other ovary and wanted to make sure everything was OK.
‘I was informed that regular fluid-filled cysts can form during your cycle, which just shows your ovaries are doing what they need to.’
Recently, Savannah decided to post a picture of her teratoma on TikTok ‘because a few people were saying I’d made it up’, she says.
‘After a day or two it was taken down by TikTok for being an explicit image.
‘Then I posted a story time – a video with me explaining what had happened – and I added the photo to it.’
The video went viral overnight. ‘In about eight hours it got two million views – now over 34 million people have seen it.’
But with the attention came some unwelcome reactions.
Savannah explains: ‘One guy said, “Watch out down there, it might bite you.” Another accused me of killing a baby.
‘But as I keep explaining to people, it was not a baby, I was not pregnant. It wasn’t alive.’
Savannah is frustrated her cyst went undetected for so long.
‘I just wish they [the doctors] had listened to me after I had the IUD fitted.’ she says.
‘They might have spotted the cyst earlier and I might still have both ovaries.’
‘They also reassured me the teratoma wouldn’t reform, it was gone for good.’
Savannah says she’s relieved the tumour is gone and tries to keep a sense of humour about what she’s been through.
‘I went in for surgery and joke that I came out having given birth to my evil twin,’ says Savannah.
‘It’s gross and weird, but also kind of fascinating. I’m just glad it’s out of me. Good riddance.’
• Dr Shree Datta can be found on the platform Doctify
