Med Student Finds Large Mass on Her Kidney After Volunteering for Ultrasound in Class

A New York student had a lucky break when she volunteered to get an ultrasound during her class — leading to a discovery of an abnormality in her body.

Aria Moreno, a first year medical student at Hofstra University on Long Island, told WABC, NBC New York and News 12 Long Island that she volunteered to be a patient to demonstrate how an ultrasound worked — and it ended up being an important decision for her health.

“I saved an organ essentially by volunteering that day,” Moreno told NBC New York.

The student said her ultrasound showed that she had a large abnormal mass on her right kidney, but it was something that wasn’t on her radar as she hadn’t been “having any symptoms,” per WABC.

Dr. Amanda Aquilo-Caudra, who did the ultrasound on Moreno, told NBC New York that she saw “these large dark areas and so for me alarm bells went off.”

“Immediately as soon as it popped up on the screen, I thought, okay, this looks very abnormal,” she added to WABC.

Aquilo-Caudra told Moreno privately at the end of the class, sharing with the outlet that she told her, “I see some dilation. I’m worried you may have something called hydronephrosis, that can be caused by a bunch of different things, most likely, you know, some type of obstruction, like a kidney stone.”

“I just said to her, ‘I think this is something you need to go see your doctor about.’ ” she added to NBC New York.

Following Aquilo-Caudra’s instructions, Moreno went to the doctor and found out there was a large kidney stone that was blocking the functions in her right kidney. She immediately was rushed into surgery to clear the blockage.

“I would have lost more function in my right kidney, maybe the whole thing [if they didn’t find the kidney stone],” Moreno told WABC.

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The medical student said that she was still recovering with 50 percent kidney function on the right side and 100 percent on the left, but she was able to return to doing normal activities — all thanks to being at the right place at the right time.

“It was tough, I had a couple of stents that were really uncomfortable, but I’m feeling back 100 percent now,” she told WABC. “Back to dancing, back to running, things I like to do.” 

Hofstra University told NBC New York that while what happened was rare — it wasn’t completely unprecedented. Aquilo-Caudra also noted that Moreno got quite the lucky break, telling NBC New York, “It’s just crazy that we caught it when we did.” 

Her student echoed a similar sentiment, saying, “I am now always going to be the first and I tell everyone to volunteer because it’s important. You never know.”

As for what’s next, Moreno said she plans to continue her work learning how to be a medical professional at Hofstra University.

“It feels like a sign to me that I was meant to be here at this school, in med school, doing these things,” Moreno told WABC.