‘I didn’t think I was ever going to be here again’: Local woman beats volleyball-sized tumor

CASPER, Wyo. — At 80 years old, it seemed like nothing could slow down Karen Canchola. At least, until doctors found a tumor the size of a volleyball growing on her lungs.

Now, after undergoing surgery in January to remove the growth, the Natrona County resident is making a swift recovery and is ready to return to her active lifestyle, which includes roping and tending to her horses.

Roughly 15 years ago, doctors alerted Canchola to a solitary fibrous tumor — a benign growth that typically develops in the respiratory system and reaches the size of a walnut. However, when Canchola went to the hospital for separate issues in December 2024, doctors found that the tumor had grown to be roughly the size of a volleyball, subsuming much of her lungs.

When Canchola learned of how dramatically the tumor had grown, she was taken aback.

“I went into the doctor one time for something else, and he said, ‘Were you aware that has quadrupled in size at least?’ and I said, ‘No, I wasn’t,'” Canchola said.

Dr. Joseph Monfre with Banner Wyoming Medical Center said the tumor had grown so much that it was taking up about half the space the lung needed in Canchola’s chest — something he said he and his colleagues have never seen before.

“We did some literature review … and as best as we can tell, there are not very many reports of solitary fibrous tumors reaching this size,” he said. “It’s a testament to what great shape she’s in [because] it’s unusual that someone could get a tumor that large without having shortness of breath or other issues. It speaks to her pulmonary reserve and her ability to tolerate that for so long.”

Though solitary fibrous tumors are typically benign, Monfre said that one of such a size still posed a serious pulmonary and respiratory health risk, and so they moved to have it removed as quickly as possible.

Because of the size of the tumor, surgeons were unable to use the normal method for removing solitary fibrous tumors. Instead, Monfre said, they had to attack the growth with an approach closer to an open heart surgery.

“The tumor would be too big to take out between her ribs, so we had to go through the front and had some plans in place to even use the heart and lung machine if we had to,” he said.

The surgery, which took place Jan. 9, was a success that left Canchola tumor-free but weakened.

Over time, she built her strength back up and was soon able to return home, much to her delight.

“I didn’t think I was ever going to be here again,” she said. “Being home was the biggest help. … I desperately wanted to come home.”

Canchola said stepson Stacy Canchola, daughter Kathi Paulson and the rest of her family were also instrumental in her recovery. Whether it meant taking her to appointments and helping refill prescriptions, helping out around the house or simply providing her with some much-appreciated company, Canchola said her family has made all the difference.

“They were there for me all the time,” she said. “They encouraged me so much.”

Canchola owns a pair of horses that she loves tending to, though she had to entrust them to a friend during her recovery. Now, she’s excited to see them return home just as soon as she finds the time to retrieve them, she said.

Canchola also has a passion for roping that began at a young age and has continued throughout her life.

“I started a long time ago, when somebody told me I couldn’t do it,” Canchola said with a laugh.

Throughout her recovery, Canchola said one of her biggest goals was to rope again. She isn’t sure just when she’ll be strong enough to return to the pastime, but she’s determined to get there.

“I want to rope,” she said before resolutely adding, “and I will.”

“The hardest thing about her recovery is trying to slow her down,” Stacy Canchola added.

Monfre said the anomalous size of Canchola’s tumor makes it notable for the broader medical and scientific field, and he and his colleagues plan to present findings, with the family’s permission.

“We’ve kind of gathered a lot of really great documentation and data about it,” he said. “It may be something that we publish in the future or present at scientific meetings. … I think anything that happens on the fringes increases our knowledge of what’s possible.”

And for Canchola, the experience taught her to never take anything for granted.

“Don’t take things a day at a time. Take them an hour at a time,” she said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”