Woman from Malaga has four-kilo tumour removed in A Coruña: 'They gave me three months to live'

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Hoping for a miracle, Elisabeth Roldán, who had a 'giant' Ewing's sarcoma growing in her lung, contacted specialist surgeon Diego González Rivas, who successfully operated on her at the San Rafael hospital in Galicia

José Antonio Sau

Friday, 9 January 2026, 15:33

Elisabeth Roldán Cómitre, 39, says she was reborn on 2 January. She had been given three months to live before thoracic surgeon, Diego González Rivas operated on her at the San Rafael hospital in A Coruña, Galicia. He removed a "giant" four-kilo tumour that had been growing in her lung membranes: she was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a type of lung cancer, in October 2024.

The doctor, who was shocked that nobody had operated on her, told Elisabeth that unless the tumour was removed, she would die . "I have been reborn!" she told SUR, moved.

Ewing's sarcoma is a rare and aggressive cancer that usually starts in the bones, and less commonly, in soft tissues. Elisabeth's story, however, begins long before her diagnosis in 2024. In 2009, she was given another diagnosis: a head tumour. She was 16 years old. Although the surgery itself was a success, the subsequent radiotherapy treatment "ate two bones in her hip" and she has had prosthetic implants ever since.

A very complex surgery

Elisabeth was treated for this tumour, until September 2024, ich she was then discharged from the hospital. Barely a month later, she was admitted to the emergency department of a hospital in her native city. Although she went to get checked for gastroenteritis, a doctor realised that she had fluid in her lungs. A test led to a new diagnosis - Ewing's sarcoma.

She started another round of chemotherapy that lasted a year and a half. But why did nobody remove the tumour? "Nobody dared to operate on me in Malaga. They said it was in the pleura of the lung and close to the heart and no thoracic surgeon dared to interfere," she said.

'The tumour kept growing: I had no life, I couldn't breathe properly, I couldn't walk, I couldn't live a normal life,' Elisabeth Roldán said

After a year and a half, the tumour "kept growing", despite being very small at the time of discovery. "I no longer had a life, I couldn't breathe properly, I couldn't walk, I couldn't lead a normal life. I was on sick leave," Elisabeth said.

What's more, "the tumour was pressing, rapidly growing, bigger and bigger" until it reached the right side of her thorax. "I was at risk of sudden death in a few months," Elisabeth said.

Early diagnosis is key in this type of sarcoma and treatment requires chemotherapy, surgery and/or radiotherapy in specialised facilities. It can be fatal, but not always: when the tumour is localised, a five-year survival rate is around 65-75%. If there are metastases at the time of diagnosis, survival rates drop to approximately 20-30%.

'The gave me three months to live'

Just as her desperation was growing, Elisabeth found the thoracic surgeon Diego González Rivas on TikTok. She sent his profile to her brother Aurelio, who then phoned his number. "Nobody wants to operate on my 39-year-old sister," Aurelio told Dr González.

The doctor requested CT scans and any more information that might help him, before telling Elisabeth and her family to go to A Coruña. She went on the 31 December to have a blood transfusion in preparation for the surgery, and the crucial moment took place on 2 January, when he operated on Elisabeth.

'He removed a four-kilo tumour from my body. They've taken it all out of me,' she said

The surgery lasted five hours. "He removed a four-kilo tumour from my body. They've taken it all out of me," Elisabeth said, while waiting to be discharged the following day. "2 January was my biggest gift from the Three Wise Men and I am so happy. I was reborn," she said.

On his Instagram profile, Dr González confirmed that they had removed the entire tumour from Elisabeth's body. Once she is back in Malaga, Elisabeth will continue undergoing her subsequent treatment.