LONDON — After doctors removed three tumors from her abdomen, Seimone Augustus watched as they placed the largest on a table, next to a ruler, which looked tiny in comparison. The tumor reminded her of a bowling ball. They told her it weighed five pounds.

At that moment, Augustus did not recoil in shock or sigh from relief. Instead, she followed her first instinct, taking out her cellphone and snapping a picture.

Augustus carried that picture with her over the last two years, as she seized a W.N.B.A. title in Minnesota, won most valuable player honors in the finals, clawed her way back onto the United States’ national team and made the Olympic team that is favored to win gold here. The United States routed Angola, 90-38, on Monday as Augustus scored 13 points.

At a recent practice, Augustus scrolled through her new phone, unable to find the tumor snapshot. She seemed genuinely deflated.