Today a patient came in complaining of lower back pain. After a detailed exam I was able to isolate a muscle spasm in the lower back and rule out more serious conditions. During the exam I noticed that the patient had a lipoma on his cheek near his ear lobe. A lipoma is a benign tumor consisting of adipose tissue (fat). They are very common. I asked the patient about the lipoma and he said it showed up 3 to 4 years ago and continued to grow. Now it was to the size that had become embarrassing to him and his granddaughter asked him what it was and why he had it. I told him he should have told his granddaughter that it was a parasitic twin. I offered to remove it and he was more than happy to bid farewell to his ugly companion. I told him he would no longer be required to buy 2 airplane tickets when he flies. He started laughing to the point of tears, so at least I had him in a good mood.
The exciting part came in the procedure. I used lidocaine to anesthetize it and then lanced it. Following the incision I had to nurse the fat out and make sure to remove all of it. It is like seeing a dead animal on the side of the road, you do not want to look but you find it impossible to stop looking. It is interestingly disgusting. It was unbelievable how much cottage cheese-like material I was able to get out. It looked liked cream coming out of a maple bar or long john donut. The best part was how thankful the patient was with the result. He was glad to have it removed and no longer following him wherever he went. I used steri-strips to close the wound and made sure to use plenty of antibiotic ointment to reduce the chance of any infection.
It was a good day!
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