The cyst removal..[ bad choices in healthcare]

[rayinpenn]

I was newly out of college, living on my own, on a shoe string budget. The cyst suddenly appeared one day on my temple and seemed to grow quickly. My colleagues say you need to get that looked at. My GP after having stuck it with a needle said "I was able to extract a little fluid but you really need a surgeon". [Mistake #1:] I looked up a doctor in my insurance book that indicated he did 'in office procedures'.

The doctors office was filled with elderly patients [Mistake #2] when he brought me back into his office I could see the examining table was an antique made of wood. It clearly had been restored and was a work of art. He then began.

1. Took some kind of paper sheet and cut a circle out.
2. Put that over my face so he could work on the cyst while I saw nothing
3. Gave me several injections to numb the area
4. Started cutting
5. Said "I would never attempted this if I knew about all these adhesions." (My thoughts at that point: What in gods name is an adhesion?)
6. A short while later he says "Oooppps". Then the activity about my face seem to intensify for a short period. I feel a warm liquid fill my ear canal.
7. He removes sheet and says you need to go to the hospital now - I'll follow you.
8. I'm sitting in the hall at the nearby hospital and people are obviously staring at the young fellow with the god awful stitching job sitting in the emergency room.
9. They move me to the OR.
10. The hotshot tumor surgeon removes the stitches and says what was in there? I put my finger in there It's so chewed up I cant tell.
11. The tumor surgeon neatly closes the site of the accident, clears my ear canal of blood and I'm sent home - I sleep for 18 hours nonstop.

I must admit there was a time in my life that I felt god was having a little fun with me..

 

[Brat]

I would contact my GP, share your experience. Ask how you can report the quality of care you received.

 

[rayinpenn]

I would contact my GP, share your experience. Ask how you can report the quality of care you received.

It was 40 years ago.

 

[REWahoo]

It was 40 years ago.

Then why start a thread about it now on an early retirement forum?

 

[Dawg52]

At least he didn't kill you. Send him a fruit basket.

 

[rayinpenn]

Then why start a thread about it now on an early retirement forum?

Because it is about bad choices in healthcare ... I didn't complain 40 years ago but I also didn't pay his bill.

Thanks for the title improvement...

 

[imoldernu]

It was 40 years ago.

... but not too far removed from today. If you check, you may find that your local dermatologist is the busiest and richest person(s) in town. Go in to the office and find the waiting room full, as well as 10 chairs in the hall, again... mostly old people.. Much as the very recent studies of breast cancer, showing that early detection is not really effective over the long haul, I believe that the scaremongering of the dermatology profession over basal cancer, and pre-cancerous skin conditions will be shown to be grossly over emphasized.

If you haven't been subject to promotional mailings for skin cancer inspections, or hearing aid seminars, consider yourself lucky.

Fortunately, for one who has spent a very large part of his life outdoors, with little or no skin protection, I've survived. Those sins are catching up, but Now I proceed with caution... I see in the eyes of the doctor, when he checks out my actinic keratosis... the vision of a new Mercedes convertible. "Not today... maybe in 6 months... or next year."

 

[Texas Proud]

Sorry to hear that....

I got a small one a few years ago.... I had a skin tag that had driven me nuts for years... it was on my thigh and would get hit, bleed etc. and hurt...

So, I go to a dermatologist to get it removed... well, it is not the Dr who does that!!! And she pulls out a pair of scissors and WHACK, just cuts it off... OUCH.... nothing to numb the spot...

 

[Meadbh]

Sorry to hear that....

I got a small one a few years ago.... I had a skin tag that had driven me nuts for years... it was on my thigh and would get hit, bleed etc. and hurt...

So, I go to a dermatologist to get it removed... well, it is not the Dr who does that!!! And she pulls out a pair of scissors and WHACK, just cuts it off... OUCH.... nothing to numb the spot...

I've had a couple of skin tags in accessible places. I just tied a thread tightly around the bases and waited for them to fall off.

 

[Silver]

I've had a couple of skin tags in accessible places. I just tied a thread tightly around the bases and waited for them to fall off.

The spray freezey stuff that removes warts also works great on skin tags, and doesn't hurt. Using a Q-tip put a tiny bit of Vaseline around the skin below the tag and then just spray it on the tag. Usually falls off within 24-48 hours. That's what some dermatologists do, and charge $260 - $400.

 

[imoldernu]

For other than skin tags... ie. brown age spots and basal cell carcinoma, see if your doctor will prescribe fluourocil or the brand equivalent. It's a salve, that over a few days, or sometimes weeks, will cause the skin to scale and slough off the skin layers, only leaving a temporary red skin. Less aggressive than the freezing method.

And... as to the cost?... about $60 per tube, to clear the entire body, versus anywhere from $150 to $300 per spot at the dermatologist.

Disclaimer:
Fluorouracil - Drug Information - Chemocare

 

[aja8888]

Because it is about bad choices in healthcare ... I didn't complain 40 years ago but I also didn't pay his bill.

Yeah, my first bad choice about health care was when I was issued combat orders in 1964.

 

[Texas Proud]

The spray freezey stuff that removes warts also works great on skin tags, and doesn't hurt. Using a Q-tip put a tiny bit of Vaseline around the skin below the tag and then just spray it on the tag. Usually falls off within 24-48 hours. That's what some dermatologists do, and charge $260 - $400.

Thanks.... I might do that for another if I am so inclined...

 

[Chuckanut]

I had a cyst removed last year.

Believe me when I say that it is not the bloody, nasty ordeal that the OP experienced 40 years ago.

The doctor that removed my cyst make a small slice in the skin, then dug and scrapped around the cyst until he had disconnected it from the rest of my skin. Then he just scooped it out and put in a few stitches to hold things together until they healed. Two weeks later the stitches were removed and things are fine. Clean, neat and very little pain, just a bit or soreness afterward.

 

[Koolau]

For other than skin tags... ie. brown age spots and basal cell carcinoma, see if your doctor will prescribe fluourocil or the brand equivalent. It's a salve, that over a few days, or sometimes weeks, will cause the skin to scale and slough off the skin layers, only leaving a temporary red skin. Less aggressive than the freezing method.

And... as to the cost?... about $60 per tube, to clear the entire body, versus anywhere from $150 to $300 per spot at the dermatologist.

Disclaimer:
Fluorouracil - Drug Information - Chemocare

I went this way and it did seem to be fairly effective. Unfortunately, it took several weeks of looking like the worst case of acne. Very unsightly on the forehead. YMMV

 

[Scrapr]

I had a cyst removed last year.

Believe me when I say that it is not the bloody, nasty ordeal that the OP experienced 40 years ago.

The doctor that removed my cyst make a small slice in the skin, then dug and scrapped around the cyst until he had disconnected it from the rest of my skin. Then he just scooped it out and put in a few stitches to hold things together until they healed. Two weeks later the stitches were removed and things are fine. Clean, neat and very little pain, just a bit or soreness afterward.

That was my experience about 3 or 4 years ago with a cyst on my shoulder. It was golf ball size. He let me take a picture of it. Sealed up and a very slight depression in the area now

 

[Fedup]

... but not too far removed from today. If you check, you may find that your local dermatologist is the busiest and richest person(s) in town. Go in to the office and find the waiting room full, as well as 10 chairs in the hall, again... mostly old people.. Much as the very recent studies of breast cancer, showing that early detection is not really effective over the long haul, I believe that the scaremongering of the dermatology profession over basal cancer, and pre-cancerous skin conditions will be shown to be grossly over emphasized.

If you haven't been subject to promotional mailings for skin cancer inspections, or hearing aid seminars, consider yourself lucky.

Fortunately, for one who has spent a very large part of his life outdoors, with little or no skin protection, I've survived. Those sins are catching up, but Now I proceed with caution... I see in the eyes of the doctor, when he checks out my actinic keratosis... the vision of a new Mercedes convertible. "Not today... maybe in 6 months... or next year."

The office I went to was not crowded. I took my husband to a dermatologist because I worried that he also spent a lot of time outdoors without using sun screen. He was cleared. No cancer. One less thing to worry about.

 

[Bamaman]

The dermatologist was one of those top students in medical school.

What's good for them is that they've got nights and weekends to themselves. The emergency room keeps general surgeons up nights--but not dermatologists.

 

[gamboolman]

I had a pecan sized cyst removed from my right temple area about 45 years ago.

Still have a ~2" long S shaped scar but it is hard to see after so long.

Sure glad I did not go the Dr. that the OP did !

 

[pacergal]

My bad choice in healthcare was to stay with an old GP years ago, simply because he had been my doc for years, and I was too busy raising kids to spend time looking for a new one. He was way past a safe practice, looking back.
Have been with a wonderful doctor with a knowledgeable, up to date practice for several years.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I was newly out of college, living on my own, on a shoe string budget. The cyst suddenly appeared one day on my temple and seemed to grow quickly. My colleagues say you need to get that looked at. My GP after having stuck it with a needle said "I was able to extract a little fluid but you really need a surgeon". [Mistake #1:] I looked up a doctor in my insurance book that indicated he did 'in office procedures'.

The doctors office was filled with elderly patients [Mistake #2] when he brought me back into his office I could see the examining table was an antique made of wood. It clearly had been restored and was a work of art. He then began.

1. Took some kind of paper sheet and cut a circle out.
2. Put that over my face so he could work on the cyst while I saw nothing
3. Gave me several injections to numb the area
4. Started cutting
5. Said "I would never attempted this if I knew about all these adhesions." (My thoughts at that point: What in gods name is an adhesion?)
6. A short while later he says "Oooppps". Then the activity about my face seem to intensify for a short period. I feel a warm liquid fill my ear canal.
7. He removes sheet and says you need to go to the hospital now - I'll follow you.
8. I'm sitting in the hall at the nearby hospital and people are obviously staring at the young fellow with the god awful stitching job sitting in the emergency room.
9. They move me to the OR.
10. The hotshot tumor surgeon removes the stitches and says what was in there? I put my finger in there It's so chewed up I cant tell.
11. The tumor surgeon neatly closes the site of the accident, clears my ear canal of blood and I'm sent home - I sleep for 18 hours nonstop.

I must admit there was a time in my life that I felt god was having a little fun with me..

Another great read ray. i was crying when i read 6.

 

[Koolau]

Another great read ray. i was crying when i read 6.

At least the "Ooops" wasn't during a vasectomy! Someday, I'll have to tell the story of not being adequately numbed - or maybe not. YMMV

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

At least the "Ooops" wasn't during a vasectomy! Someday, I'll have to tell the story of not being adequately numbed - or maybe not. YMMV

Bwaaa

 

[Walt34]

If you haven't been subject to promotional mailings for skin cancer inspections, or hearing aid seminars, consider yourself lucky.

As one who as recently as last January underwent surgery for malignant melanoma I strongly disagree. I see a dermatologist twice a year now.

 

[Koolau]

As one who as recently as last January underwent surgery for malignant melanoma I strongly disagree. I see a dermatologist twice a year now.

Yeah, I've lost friends to melanoma and I DO see the dermatologist at least once/year. I agree that most of the time, it's a waste of money - until it's not.

I've heard so many things lately about how the guidelines for various "routine" checks are evolving (from pap smears to PSA/dig-rect (prostate exams), mammogram and others.) To the extent that it's a potential "waste of money" I guess I don't particularly consider that a good reason to change the rules. If there are greater risks (maybe x-ray doses - or possibly unneeded surgeries) then maybe we should talk about it. BUT if YOU are the one who has a potential life-threatening disease, YOU want to know about it. I don't know what the answer is, but I don't think it's simple. YMMV