I had a pyogenic granuloma--a benign blood vessel tumor--on my lower lip. At the time, we didn't know what it was. They had said that they could go in from the inside of my lip and remove it, but during the surgery they could not get to it from the inside (presumably because pyogenic granulomas are often surface level) so ended up going from the outside anyway, causing two separate incisions on each side of my lip to the tumor.. Every surgery has its risks of complications, so I am understanding of that. However, the reasons for the two stars are:
Negatives:
1. The tumor returned immediately--and I was dismissed when I told them this. I felt the tumor grow the first time (period of couple hours) and I felt it grow back, too. I tried to tell them this, but all they did was humor me with a quick finger palpation (of my painful and fresh incision site) and tell me it was just scar tissue and I just need to be patient. Almost a year later now with no followup from them, and it was not just scar tissue.
2. They sent the removed tumor off for biopsy after the surgery, which is how I know what it is. The problem is that I now know that they should have done a fine needle biopsy of the tumor BEFORE doing any surgical removal, especially on my face. Pyogenic granuloma can relapse with tissue trauma--like a surgery. This is indeed what happened. Also, turns out that pyogenic granuloma near the skin surface can also be treated, simply, with a salt compress. However, with the trauma of the surgery through the entire depth of my lip, the returned tumor is now deep inside of my lip and not as easily accessible for salt treatments. I had had extensive delays in treatment due to other doctors dilly dallying around with it, so I was anxious to have it handled and perhaps that influenced him. However, it's also his job to lay out reasoned and measured treatment paths and to communicate that to me. He made a surgery sound easy peasy and the risk of recurrence or cosmetic damage miniscule, none of which was true. I don't know about you, but I don't want a surgeon to downplay the very real risks associated with surgeries.
3. I've since learned a little about surgical removals of pyogenic granulomas and lip surgeries. Apparently, it is known that lips can often heal pretty well upon surgery due to the type of cells involved in that area--that is, unless the incision site extends past the edge of the lip to also involve the surrounding non-lip skin. You guessed it, my incision site extended just a bit past my lip border, just enough to involve non-lip cells in the scaring and healing process. This seems like something the surgeon should have known.
4. I paid my bill in full before the surgery, and there were still billing issues post surgery. The billing seemed a little disorganized, and they also seemed like they would get very aggressive about pursuing even miniscule due payments.
Positives:
1. The process of the surgery itself was done very well in my experience. It was my first surgery, and I was nervous. They created as comfortable of an experience as they could, put me under, and I didn't feel anything.
2. The nurses were really accommodating and kind. They went out of their way to meet my needs. read more