Julia Manihuari's chest grew to a gigantic N cup after the birth of her third son seven years ago — leaving her unable to move, The Sun reported.
"It was awful," she said. "If I tried to get up I would faint because my breasts were so heavy."
Manihuari, 29, who lives in northern rural Peru, was finally helped when local media paid for her to take a three-day boat trip to the nearest town for medical help.
Doctors believe she was suffering from a rare condition known as gigantomastia, which is characterized by excessive breast growth that may occur spontaneously during puberty or pregnancy, or while taking certain medications, according to the National Institues of Health.
While the exact cause of gigantomastia is not known, Dr. Cynara Coomer, a breast surgeon and Fox News contributor said in this particular case, it could be due to the hormones that are present during pregnancy.
“During pregnancy, there’s a surge of hormones — both estrogen and progesterone — that cause the breast tissue to increase,” Coomer said. “In normal women, they will notice an increase of one to three cup sizes during pregnancy. But in this case, this was an extreme overgrowth of her breast tissue, most likely in response to the hormones.”
Surgeons had to cut 35 pounds of flesh from Manihuari's breasts, fearing they could squash her lungs and kill her.
Manihuari emerged as a size 34B after the six-hour operation.
"Before the operation I couldn't do anything — I just had to live with it. It got so bad that my breasts were touching my legs," she said. "I have always had a small build, and the stress on the rest of my body was agony."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,591982,00.html
