Sebaceous Is As Sebaceous Does

When I heard the doctor say, "Oh my," when he took a look at the lump on my shoulder blade, I knew something was up.

I'd been feeling sharp, burning pain for more than a week near the bottom of my left shoulder blade. When I strained to reach back there, almost like hugging myself, I felt the thick stiff lump. I tried checking it in the mirror but could only make out a sometimes reddish sometimes purplish raised patch on my skin. Sleeping on it proved easier than I thought, mostly because I was out cold and didn't feel anything when I rolled onto that side during the night. But driving....and sitting in a straight-backed chair...those irritated the lump to know end so I was more than glad when the receptionist was able to pencil me in for Tuesday afternoon.

Sitting on the examination table, I slowly removed my t-shirt, and heard the doctor say the dreadful, "Oh my". He lightly pinched and pressed the lump, asking if it hurt. I mentioned that it felt a bit tender at times, mostly when I raise my arm or have to sit in the car for long periods of time. "Well, this looks like a pretty nasty cyst so I'm going to excise it and try to get as much stuff out of it as I can." I laid stomach down on the table, gripping the paper-covered pillow tightly, watching the doctor remove a fresh needle from a sealed pouch, stick the tip into a tiny bottle, then stick that tip three times into the area around the cyst. Those little pricks hurt the most; I didn't even feel when he broke open the skin to start the drainage. A few moments of pinching pressure every once in a while followed by quick swipes of gauze. I asked how bad it was. "Well, most of it was just under the skin so it was easy to get to, but the affected area goes about an inch down. Not too wide which is good, but it's not all going to come out today."

After about 30 minutes, he set a gauze wick inside to assist with the drainage then laid a few gauze pads with thick medical tape crisscrossing them over the spot. "It's going to bleed quite a bit tonight. Change the gauze in the morning, and you should be fine until I can see you on Friday." He scribbled a prescription for Keflex, warned me to keep the area dry (which made for an interesting shower this morning), and sent me on my way.