Bath bride's dream wedding saved by robotic surgery to remove tumour

A woman has said that her dream wedding was saved by surgeons who used a robot to remove a tumour.

Beyza Ucar, 33, from Bath, was devastated to discover she had a 12cm tumour growing on her liver, having previously beaten thyroid cancer.

Luckily, it was benign and surgeons at the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust removed it - enabling her to walk up the aisle just eight weeks later.

"They promised that I would walk in my wedding dress and they were not wrong."

Ms Ucar, a Surrey University PhD student, had been suffering from nausea, sickness and reflux after eating meals, something she blamed for years on an overly sensitive stomach.

But tests last year showed she actually had a growth on her liver.

"I didn't know how I would be after surgery, but I knew I wanted to be able to wear my wedding dress and walk down the aisle unaided," she said.

"My surgeon and the wonderful team were so reassuring. They were so confident in the robotic procedure."

Ms Ucar met her fiancé, Edward, 36, in March 2020 and in February 2022 he proposed on top of Glastonbury Tor with his grandmother's ring.

"When we got to the top he knelt down and held my hand and told me how much he loved me," Ms Ucar said.

It was just a few months later that Ms Ucar learned she had a mass growing rapidly on her liver.

"I was feeling quite ill because of the tumour but thanks to help from Edward's wonderful mum we managed to organise everything from the dress to the venue very quickly.

"I just needed to get the surgery out of the way and I feel very fortunate that my team had access to these amazing robots," Ms Ucar added.

Royal Surrey has four cutting-edge robots, with three dedicated to performing surgery and one to help with training.

Consultant surgeon Tim Pencavel said: "The robots make it possible for us to carry out complex operations via very tiny incisions with greater accuracy and control.

"This means patients are days ahead in their recovery compared to those who have had traditional surgery."

Ms Ucar is one of the 200 patients who has successfully had robotic assisted hepatobiliary surgery at the Royal Surrey since the service became available.

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