Story highlights Irianita Rojas, 22, had lived with the ovarian tumor since she was 13 years old

It took surgeons three hours to remove the tumor in what a hospital described as a "medical feat"

"I'm happy now because I'm recovering and I will be able to fulfill my dream of studying accounting," Rojas said

(CNN) Peruvian doctors have removed what was described by health officials as a "giant" 16-kilogram (35.3-pound) tumor from the abdomen of a woman in Lima, the capital of Peru.

The patient, identified by the Peruvian Healthy Ministry as Irianita Rojas, 22, had lived with the ovarian tumor since she was 13 years old. The tumor grew so large that she looked as if she were pregnant.

"I never thought I would be operated on," Rojas said, according to a statement published by the Health Ministry. "I'm happy now because I'm recovering and I will be able to fulfill my dream of studying accounting."

It took surgeons at the Archbishop Loayza National Hospital three hours to remove the tumor Saturday in what the hospital described as a "medical feat." Dr. Luis Garcia Bernal, the hospital director, said the patient will stay there for observation.

"Irianita is recovering and can be released, but she will stay in Lima for a few more days to so that we can practice additional exams to define the treatment she should follow when she returns to (the province of) Loreto," Garcia Bernal said Wednesday.

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