SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Linda VandeVrede thought something was wrong when she needed to take a nap every afternoon and use the restroom more frequently.

What the Scottsdale woman didn't know was a tumor the size of a grapefruit was growing on her liver.

Doctors detected the tumor when VandreVrede, who's never had children, went in for a CT scan on her bladder.

"I just knew  what he was going to tell me wasn't going to be good," VandeVrede said.

Her feeling was correct. Doctors found a four and half inch tumor growing on her liver.

"It's called a liver adenoma, and there almost always benign," said VandeVrede.

Then she said came the question that explained it all.

"He asked me first, 'How long have you been on birth control pills?' Because he had looked at all the data I had provided and when I told him 24 years it was if he knew it confirmed his analysis of the cat scan," she said.

Doctors performed surgery right away and removed the tumor.

Four years later, VandeVrede is tumor free and no longer taking birth-control pills.

She said she's learned a lot about these tumors and their connection to the usage of birth-control pills.

"Apparently the hormones in the pills can stimulate these kinds of tumors that grow on your liver," VandeVrede said.

VandeVrede learned women who are taking birth control pills for a longer periods of time, more than 10 years have a higher of risk of getting the tumors.

VandeVrede said when she learned Kerry Martin, the state treasurer's wife died of a similar tumor rupturing, she knew she had to tell her story.

"If you have been on it as long as I was, than you need to look at other options," VandeVrede said.

Doctors say these tumors are rare and non-cancerous. They see them most often in women and rarely are there any symptoms.

They say women who are on the pill for a decade or more have a higher risk of getting the tumors.