“They said it was fine, but it grew to 5 cm”... Han Go-eun ends up in the ER just three days after breast tumor surgery [Health Talk]

[Financial News] Actress Han Go-eun, 51, revealed that a breast lump (cyst) found during a health checkup rapidly grew to at least 5 cm in just a few months, and that she underwent emergency surgery to have it removed. She also shared how she returned to filming too soon after surgery, without allowing herself enough time to recover, and was taken to the emergency room with severe vomiting and symptoms of hypotensive shock. Her experience highlights the importance of taking care of one’s health after surgery during seasonal transitions.

Han Go-eun opened up about the frightening health scare that forced her to spend this year’s Chuseok holiday in a hospital emergency room, in a video posted on the 15th to her YouTube channel “Goeun Unnie Han Go-eun.”
It began with a routine health checkup last January. A 3.2 cm cyst was found in her left breast. Since tumors measuring 3 cm or more require detailed testing at a secondary-care hospital, she underwent a biopsy. The mass was found not to be malignant (cancerous), so she decided to have it monitored regularly.
But at a follow-up examination in late August, about seven months later, the situation changed dramatically. The tumor had grown rapidly to at least 5 cm. The medical team considered its rapid growth over a short period a warning sign and recommended immediate surgical removal. Han Go-eun took advantage of a break in the broadcast schedule of the daily drama she was appearing in to undergo emergency excision surgery.

The problem arose during her recovery from surgery. In order to keep up with the drama’s filming schedule, she returned to the set after just three days of rest, which led to trouble.
Han Go-eun recalled, “I pushed myself through an intense schedule to make up for the scenes I’d missed, and came down with a severe case of body aches,” adding, “Even when I ate to stay alive, my body felt like an empty shell, as if I were falling into a huge drum.”
Then, on the morning of Chuseok itself, she began vomiting so severely that she couldn’t even keep water down. At the emergency room she rushed to, her blood pressure dropped rapidly and monitor alarms sounded; she even experienced a temporary risk of hypotensive shock. Fortunately, after intensive IV-fluid treatment and detailed tests, she recovered and was discharged.

Surgeons and breast disease specialists stress that when a breast lump grows abnormally quickly, as in Han Go-eun’s case, thorough testing and treatment are essential—even if it has been deemed benign.
A breast cyst is a condition in which fluid accumulates when a milk duct becomes blocked; most cysts are benign and do not develop into cancer. However, if a cyst is 3 cm or larger in diameter, or grows rapidly by 1–2 cm or more over a few months, the possibility of a phyllodes tumor or a complex cyst with cellular changes, rather than a simple cyst, cannot be ruled out. Phyllodes tumors have a high recurrence rate even when benign and can rarely become malignant (a sarcoma), so they must be completely removed along with 1–2 cm of normal tissue.
The importance of post-operative care is also being emphasized. Even for a relatively simple excision performed under local anesthesia or sedation, complete rest and adequate hydration for at least 1–2 weeks are essential to allow the surgical wound to heal and the body’s immune system to recover.

Strenuous activity and stress during recovery can disrupt the autonomic nervous system and lead to acute gastroenteritis, dehydration, and hypotensive shock due to reduced blood vessel constriction.

[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter