Scalp cyst removal; not looking forward to it

[writergal]

Thanks Pureinheart. If I go through with Friday's appointment I hope my dermatologist gets ALL of the cyst including its "wall" which is what it would regenerate from.

[d'Arthez]

Good luck when you have the procedure.

 

Sometimes the anticipation is worse than the actual procedure. Let's hope that is the case here as well.

[writergal]

Good luck when you have the procedure.

 

Sometimes the anticipation is worse than the actual procedure. Let's hope that is the case here as well.

 

I'm fairly certain that is the case here, as my sister is the nurse in the family. I faint at the site of my own blood.

[c0nfused88]

Is it being done at the doctor's office or at an outpatient surgery center?

 

I had a cyst removed just this last Friday-- and I was under general anesthesia. They let me decide which I wanted, does your doctor give that option?

[writergal]

Wait, general anesthesia? As in you were completely out? Mine is being performed at an outpatient center with local anesthesia. I didn't ask if general was an option. Now I have to rethink this. Again, will address this in my email exchange with my dr. over the next few days.

 

How did your surgery go? Was the cyst interior or anterior?

 

Is it being done at the doctor's office or at an outpatient surgery center?

 

I had a cyst removed just this last Friday-- and I was under general anesthesia. They let me decide which I wanted, does your doctor give that option?

[c0nfused88]

When I started discussing surgery with my doctor I made it clear I wanted general (to be put totally out). He said that was fine-- and that both were options. If it is at an outpatient surgical center I'm sure they have both options. I just didn't want to be awake. The one I had removed was on my wrist-- so it isn't too bad!

 

 

Wait, general anesthesia? As in you were completely out? Mine is being performed at an outpatient center with local anesthesia. I didn't ask if general was an option. Now I have to rethink this. Again, will address this in my email exchange with my dr. over the next few days.

 

How did your surgery go? Was the cyst interior or anterior?

[carhill]

As relevant, be sure to check patient costs on the different procedures. Out-patient surgery with general anesthesia is a far different procedure, cost-wise, than a doctor's office procedure under a local. For some, the former might be the same cost as the latter; for others, different, and generally much more expensive. If so, decide whether 'being out' is affordable or not.

[writergal]

c0nfused88 and Carhill you both make good points about procedure and cost that I didn't think through well enough. I'll have to call the member services of my insurance plan tomorrow to discuss which procedure, location is the cheapest for someone with my student health plan.

[c0nfused88]

For the record, I am a PhD student with a student health plan and nearly all of it is covered. However, yeah-- I agree with carhill that checking on cost is vastly important.

 

Good luck!

 

c0nfused88 and Carhill you both make good points about procedure and cost that I didn't think through well enough. I'll have to call the member services of my insurance plan tomorrow to discuss which procedure, location is the cheapest for someone with my student health plan.

[writergal]

Unfortunately I have the 80/20 deal with my student health insurance plan where I'm responsible for paying 20 percent of final bill. So it's a good thing I posted here before this coming Friday as everyone who responded has been extremely helpful to me.

[Trimmer]

Also, please realize that if you are looking at a relatively simple procedure, then truly "general anesthesia" (by definition, I believe, this is anesthesia in which your protective breathing reflexes such as coughing are supressed, which is one reason an anesthesiologist monitors you...) may well be the biggest risk of the entire procedure.

 

Now, if they're just talking about sedating you, that may be different. But going under truly general anesthesia for something like a surface cyst removal that could be done under a local? Completely my opinion and I understand how others might differ, but in doing the risk tradeoff, I would avoid the general anesthesia unless absolutely necessary.

[weathervane]

So you can totally relate! When are you getting yours removed? Mine is the size of a quarter. If you put your hand on the back of my head you can feel this awful lump. Luckily it's above the surface. I think I would need to be put under if it were below the surface. Your poor dad. What he must have gone through having to have multiple cyst removals. But at least there wasn't a lot of bleeding involved.

 

I'll definitely email my doctor today about the two different removal methods that Wiki article mentions. Thanks for that link!

 

Well, I just mentioned it to my primary care for the first time at my checkup this year, haha. I knew it was harmless because my dad gets them, but now it has gotten bigger to the point that it bothers me. She told me to go to a dermatologist. I'm at college and haven't gotten around to it yet. Honestly, my main concern is that it has to be kept dry for awhile, which means not washing my hair a week or more, I assume! I need to wash my hair every day or else it looks greasy. I guess I'll be wearing a baseball hat! Doing it this summer seems like a good idea for that reason.

 

I don't have the anxiety about the procedure that you have, though mine isn't quite as large as yours. Seriously, my dad has had a few removed over the years and treats it as NO big deal.

[writergal]

I think that's why my dr. never mentioned that kind to me, just local - as in, he will numb my scalp since it is a surface cyst. And since I already met with him and he knows about my anxiety, I'm surprised he didn't suggest giving me a sedative for the procedure. Maybe he thinks it won't be as big of a deal as my worried imagination makes it out to be. Yeah, I'd rather not be knocked out completely just for the whole risk of not breathing too. I mean, I did it in early college for my wisdom teeth removal and survived but that was then, this is now. If I can't do a sedative I'll just have to tough it out and see that already I've started to psych myself out when I know exactly what is going to happen. My knee surgery was different. I wasn't scared because heck, it's a knee and some windshield glass was removed. Big deal. But this is my head, which already has a healed occipital fracture and scars where some of my scalp was stapled back on from my previous bike/car accident. So that's the root of my anxiety - anything that has to do with my head. But I want to get this darn cyst removed because it's annoying me.

 

Also, please realize that if you are looking at a relatively simple procedure, then truly "general anesthesia" (by definition, I believe, this is anesthesia in which your protective breathing reflexes such as coughing are supressed, which is one reason an anesthesiologist monitors you...) may well be the biggest risk of the entire procedure.

 

Now, if they're just talking about sedating you, that may be different. But going under truly general anesthesia for something like a surface cyst removal that could be done under a local? Completely my opinion and I understand how others might differ, but in doing the risk tradeoff, I would avoid the general anesthesia unless absolutely necessary.

[writergal]

Yeah, I need to adopt your dad's attitude: no big deal. It's a surface cyst not a brain tumor (knocks on wood). I'm good at making mountains out of molehills when I'm confronted with situations like this whole cyst removal procedure.

 

I think you have the right idea of getting yours removed over the summer. My hair is shoulder length and my doctor said he didn't think he has to cut any to remove the cyst (thankfully).

 

 

Well, I just mentioned it to my primary care for the first time at my checkup this year, haha. I knew it was harmless because my dad gets them, but now it has gotten bigger to the point that it bothers me. She told me to go to a dermatologist. I'm at college and haven't gotten around to it yet. Honestly, my main concern is that it has to be kept dry for awhile, which means not washing my hair a week or more, I assume! I need to wash my hair every day or else it looks greasy. I guess I'll be wearing a baseball hat! Doing it this summer seems like a good idea for that reason.

 

I don't have the anxiety about the procedure that you have, though mine isn't quite as large as yours. Seriously, my dad has had a few removed over the years and treats it as NO big deal.

[carhill]

Try mentioning anxiolysis (minimal sedation) to the doctor and see what they say. That might be possible in a non-hospital/surgical center setting. That's what they did with my mom. It's considered to be one step below twilight anesthesia.

[turnera]

I had several small ones removed and they just did it in the office. Zip, it was done. The worst part was cleaning the gunk out of my hair afterward.

 

One of them did turn out to be skin cancer, though. You may want to see if they are going to biopsy it.

[d'Arthez]

Now ... success or not?

[writergal]

Now ... success or not?

 

Hi D'A. No success.

 

My anxiety level went through the roof when he was about to numb my scalp with a needle, because I let my fear take over from what happened to me in the past with my bike accident. I was laying face down and started to hyperventilate because I couldn't see what was going to happen, and anticipated feeling the scalpel, feeling blood running all over, etc. and I lost it. Clearly when I go back - and I will go back - I will need to take a sedative. The dr. actually told me it would be okay to do so for next time. I'll get my sister to pick me up when I get the procedure done. If I hadn't been knocked off my bike by a truck, cracked my skull in half and had some of it stapled back on 12 years ago, well I wouldn't be freaking out about a little cyst removal.

 

On the insurance side I'm good which is a relief for me financially, because my dr. wrote that it needs to be biopsied. That means it's all covered and my co-pay is really minimal.

[d'Arthez]

Hi D'A. No success.

Sorry to hear that things did not go as planned, but i can imagine your accident getting back to you. That is not exactly something you want to be reminded of. Hope the sedative will work when you go in the next time.

 

Glad that the insurance is at least sorted. Have you scheduled a new appointment already?

[writergal]

Well it was a pretty horrific accident but that's for another thread. I'll take a pill 20 minutes before the procedure so it has time to kick in. I'm disappointed in myself for letting my nerves get the best of me for what everyone has assured me is a very simple, non-life-threatening procedure.

 

Yep I rescheduled for the end of June. Now I just have to make sure my sister can pick me up at the dr.'s office.

 

Sorry to hear that things did not go as planned, but i can imagine your accident getting back to you. That is not exactly something you want to be reminded of. Hope the sedative will work when you go in the next time.

 

Glad that the insurance is at least sorted. Have you scheduled a new appointment already?

[d'Arthez]

Well it was a pretty horrific accident but that's for another thread. I'll take a pill 20 minutes before the procedure so it has time to kick in. I'm disappointed in myself for letting my nerves get the best of me for what everyone has assured me is a very simple, non-life-threatening procedure.

Believe, you are not the only one who would have struggled with that. Don't beat yourself up. Memory can play awful tricks on us, and it seems to have happened there. It is not like the accident you describe was something as simple as a cut in one's finger.

 

I probably would have opted for sedation the first time around, and I usually loathe sedation (courtesy of the geniuses who killed my grandfather).

 

Hopefully this will be sorted within the next few weeks.

[whichwayisup]

Well it was a pretty horrific accident but that's for another thread. I'll take a pill 20 minutes before the procedure so it has time to kick in. I'm disappointed in myself for letting my nerves get the best of me for what everyone has assured me is a very simple, non-life-threatening procedure.

 

Yep I rescheduled for the end of June. Now I just have to make sure my sister can pick me up at the dr.'s office.

 

Don't be disappointed! You were brave to even attempt this without sedation! No way in heck would I even make it in the room, let alone let the procedure start. The fear is totally understandable and you have nothing to be embarressed or disappointed about.