Dr. Pimple Popper (2018–…): Season 4, Episode 3 - Eggs Lipoma - full transcript

Previously on
"Dr. Pimple popper"...

David:
It started as a little bump.

Recently, I was sent
to pick up a passenger.

Dr. Lee: Good morning.
Thanks for picking me up.

Turned out to be Dr. Lee.

My daughter is the closest
person in my life,

but I haven't seen her
for two and a half years,

and I want to talk
to my daughter more

and get my relationship back
to where we should be.

The last time I saw you,

you were taking me
somewhere in a car.



That was, like,
such a serendipitous moment

that we met each other.
- True.

Okay, there's this piece off.

Oh, yeah. [ Laughs ]

Oh yeah, huh?

Now I want to
address something.

This bump that you have here,

I suspect is a type
of skin cancer.

♪

I'm gonna take off
about a millimeter

of normal tissue around it.

Doing awesome.

I hope it's negative.

Ooh.



- You okay?
- Yeah, I'm okay.

When people notice my bump,
it makes me feel like a freak.

You got to be strong
for your kids.

- [ Inhales sharply ]
- Ohh.

- I felt that, whatever that was.
- You want me to keep going?

Are you ready for this?

When I first met my wife,

she always said she fell
in love with me

'cause I always had
a backwards hat on,

and so if it's gone, I can start
wearing my hats again.

It's like an egg yolk lipoma.

Scrambled eggs
mixed with some ketchup.

- I'll never eat those again.
- [ Laughs ]

I'm actually afraid of knives
and the doctor

and going under.

My boss went in for a knee
replacement and he died.

Are you okay?

I'm anxious right now.

I don't know if I could even
go through this.

captions paid for by
discovery communications

Dr. Lee:
David came in a few days ago

to have his rhinophyma treated,

but I did at that time notice

a very suspicious growth
under his right eye.

I think it could be
skin cancer.

I didn't want to alarm him while
we were doing the nose surgery,

but I did inform him after
we'd completed that procedure,

and so we took a biopsy,

and he's back here for us
to discuss the results.

Love you.

David: I brought my daughter
with me this time.

It's nice to have
a little backup.

- Thank you, sir.
- Mm-hmm.

My dad basically called me

and said he's going
to have a surgery

and I needed to come down.

So I immediately jumped
into action to be with him,

see him,

hopefully
get some good information.

David?

We may not see each other
very often,

but, you know, we do talk.

You know, your dad's your dad,
no matter how old you are.

♪

- Hi.
- Hi.

How are you? I know this guy.
How are you?

I'm Sandra -- Dr. Lee.

I hear wonderful things
about you.

Oh, thank you.

I'm very thankful that you just
happened to be in the car

that he was driving.

Wasn't that?
It was like kismet.

- That's what I told him.
- It was crazy.

I'm like, "it had to have meant
to be," for sure.

Yes, well, when I saw him
and was talking to him

about his nose, you know,
you can't help but notice that,

but I, as a dermatologist,

also couldn't help
but notice this area

because we're trained to look

at all these
unusual bumps on people.

So I was pretty suspicious
of that area there.

Yeah.

And so we took a biopsy
the last time,

when we did
this procedure here,

and so I have
the results today, okay?

So let's talk to you
a little bit about it, okay?

Okay.

What you have here
under your right eye

is a basal
cell carcinoma, okay?

This is a type of skin cancer.
Okay?

I know the c-word is
a scary word.

The best course of action
is to remove it

when it's as small as possible.

And I know you've told me
that that's been there one,

maybe I pushed it to two years,

but I'm gonna guess closer
to six

or seven years
that it's been there.

Oh, yeah.

And it was smaller before,
perhaps.

- Yeah.
- So we want to remove this

and leave as much normal skin
as possible.

What David has under his right
eye is a basal cell carcinoma.

It does not really metastasize

or spread to other areas
of your body,

but it is locally destructive.

So it is something that
you want to remove

because if you let it grow
to a large size,

it could impinge upon your eye,
it could take over your nose,

it could take over part
of your face.

So even though it wouldn't be
necessarily something

that would threaten
his life eminently,

it is something
that you need to remove.

So the ideal treatment for this
is something that I do.

It's called mohs micrographic
skin cancer surgery.

So I'm gonna take off
what we see there

and about a millimeter or so of
normal tissue around it.

So by doing that, we take
as little of you as possible.

All right,
so I'm gonna get started.

Let me get my girls
and we're gonna set up the room.

We're transitioning to mohs
surgery day today, okay?

- All right, I'll be back.
- All right.

Most surgeries,
really the best technique

to remove basal cell carcinomas
or squamous cell carcinomas,

which are the most common type
of skin cancers on the face,

and it's really about
tissue preservation.

If a skin cancer
is more extensive,

it's gonna take a longer time.

In fact, there's some times

when you're with a mohs patient
all day.

Richele: What you thinking?

I hope everything goes well
and it gets gone.

I'm, too, for that.

Dr. Lee:
You should not feel anything

other than us touching you.

I'm now going to remove

the visible part of
the skin cancer

and take my first layer,

meaning I'm going to take
as little as I can

to help minimize
the size of this surgical defect

and minimize
the potential scar.

You're doing awesome.

♪

Richele: When they took it off,

it was
about the size of a nickel,

it was kind of big.

You know, I wasn't expecting it
to be that big.

It was kind of unnerving.

Don't want to see
inside your dad, you know?

[ Laughs ]

♪

All right, it's a little
hurry up and wait now.

We're gonna check this tissue
while you wait, okay?

Once I remove
this cancerous tissue,

I make a map of this tissue

and how I removed it
from his face

so that if there is
a positive margin,

I know where that is
on the patient

so I can go back
to that specific area

and take a little bit more
if I need to.

Take that and I'll be back.

Let me know when it's ready.
Thank you.

Rachel places the tissue

really carefully
on a glass slide,

then the tissue is placed
into a cryostat

so that she can
slice it really thinly.

It's sort of like a really
high-tech version

of the meat slicer that you find
in your deli counter.

So, instead of slicing smoked
Turkey, you're slicing tissue.

So I look at all the edges
and down underneath to see

if I can see any residual.

Ooh.

He's clear on the edges,
but down deeper,

there's a little bit
of a deep component

right in the center here.

So David's first mohs layer
looks pretty good.

There is one little edge there
that looks like

there's still
skin cancer there,

so I am going to have to take
a little bit more from him,

and that is a little bit
concerning to me

because any time you take
a little bit more tissue,

there's a risk for more nerves
or vessels to be cut.

All right, let me just Mark that
out and have her process this,

and hopefully
that'll be it, okay?

If this cancer goes deep,
that could lead

to severe disfigurement here,
and I don't want that.

I mean, we just got his nose
looking good.

If I wasn't successful,

then likely
the skin cancer would recur

and it could lead
to a big disaster.

I hope it's negative.

I am looking for darker
blue cells

that are really close together.

There's palisading of the cells

where they're all kind of
lined up along the edges.

Got all my skin edge, good.

I see a little --
a little bit of muscle there.

It looks clear. All right.

Thank goodness that David's
case cleared in two layers.

I mean, if we have to progress

and do many more layers
of mohs surgery,

it could really become
a much bigger deal

than the rhinophyma case
that he originally came in for.

Well, the good news is
second time was a charm.

You're all clear now.

He's out of the woods,
he's cancer free.

I'm pretty excited.
[ Laughs ]

We're going to fix that up now.

You don't want to walk up
with this little kind of

coin-shaped area there.

I just can't stitch up
this hole on David's face

because that hole is
too close to his eye.

If I pull that side to side,
it's gonna pull on his eye,

and he won't be able
to close it.

What I've decided to do here
is a burow's graft.

I extended a triangle
more laterally on his face

and really taking that tissue

and pulling it to close
that initial hole

so that that area
is not pulled together,

but we're actually hiding

this little scar line
in his smile line.

You're a very good patient
considering

that I just found you
on the street.

All right,
it's all bumpy today.

Tomorrow, it's gonna look
a little flatter,

but it takes a while
for this to fully heal up.

I mean, I see the potential,

but usually, you know,

I got to make sure
the patient knows that.

- It looks really good.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Looking good!

- Way better.
- Yeah. Give me a smile.

I'm so glad that I was able to
get rid of David's rhinophyma

and also get rid of this
skin cancer that he has.

He's gonna look so much better
once all of this heals.

Thanks for letting me
work on you there

and dragging you back in,
and I'm glad I could give you

good news about it,
and I think we got it.

We have 98% success rate

with mos surgery,
so we probably got it.

I feel like Dr. Lee is a genie

and she popped up
and granted all my wishes.

- Thank you so very much.
- Oh, you're so welcome.

It was nice to meet you.

Richele: I'm very thankful that

she just happened
to end up in his car.

If it wasn't for that, I don't
know what he would've done.

- Free driving for life, right?
- Oh, yeah.

I thought I heard that.
Yeah. Just kidding. [ Laughs ]

I'm gonna have him around
a little longer. [ Laughs ]

Hopefully a lot longer.

Knowing him, he's gonna
out-live me. [ Laughs ]

That couldn't have been planned
better if we tried to plan it.

- Oh, I know.
- [ Laughs ]

Totally amazing.

♪

At first, it was just a little
small one on my neck,

and then one was here,
then another one here, then...

They don't stop.

♪

♪

I'm Nicole, I'm 41, I live
in Sacramento, California,

and I have bumps on my neck,
behind my ears,

on my back, my arms,
and I'm tired.

They just come
when they want to.

That one on my forearm
just came two weeks ago.

I say the end of my 20s,
they started appearing.

At first, it was just a little
small one on my neck,

and I'm just like,
"oh, it's nothing."

I thought it was a pimple.

Then another one came,
and then one was here,

then another one here, then...

They don't stop.
[ Chuckles ]

Look, I'm covered in them.

It'll just cluster.

It'll be nothing
and then it'll cluster,

just something like this.

Because if you feel it,

it's like three or four
underneath just this one sack.

I feel like a guy,
like I have an Adam's apple.

That's probably not attractive
when you meet someone

and they have -- you don't know
if it's a bump or...

You know, what is that?
It looks a little crazy.

♪

Out of all the bumps on my body,
the ones that irritate me

the most are by my ears
and in front of my neck

because that's what you see

and that's what people
judge me on.

So I went to the dermatologist
and they were like,

"oh, they're little cysts,

and sometimes people get them,
they don't go away.

You know, it's just a little
nothing,

but don't make a big deal
out of them.

You know, it's just maybe
the way you're eating.

Change your eating habits,
and..."

But, no, no.

I don't care how I change my
eating habits, they kept coming.

They've removed a few of them,

but this is the most
difficult they've ever seen.

I've tried to self-pop them
with a needle.

Once the stuff's all out,
I'm happy, it's great.

But since, you know,
I'm not a doctor,

it comes back bigger and worse.

So all I did was infect it.

It's a struggle every morning
just to get ready,

just to try not to look
at myself and how ugly it looks.

Like that's gonna
hide anything.

...turtlenecks, wigs.

Here's the famous
wig everybody likes.

♪

I like it, too, because it
covers up everything.

Before the bumps,
I was going out, having fun.

My neck was always out,

my hair was probably in
up-dos more than anything,

and now when I look
in a mirror...

[ Scoffs ]
I see an ugly person.

And I get hot and everything,

it's like, "ugh, I want to
take this wig off,

but I can't because
I don't want people to see me."

♪

I have a daughter.
She's almost 4.

Her name is dayvesha,
and she's wild.

She's a little spitfire.

I mean, as soon as she wakes up
in the morning, it is go.

Give me hugs.

She comes up to me,
she just touches my neck,

and she says,
"oh, poor mommy," you know.

- You okay?
- Yeah, I'm okay.

She just rubs them,
and she'll kiss me.

"Oh, it's okay, mommy."

You know, she's very sweet.

You got to be strong
for your kids.

If you can't be strong, then
who are they gonna lean on?

[ Crying ]

On a daily basis, just being
a person is really hard.

You can't just stay in a corner
of the box in a little room,

even though I want to.

I have to get out in the world.
I have to. [ Sniffles ]

But I really don't want to.

♪

♪

I'm standing outside of
Dr. Lee's office right now

and I'm feeling excited.

A little nervous, but more
excited to just get it done.

I feel if I can get these
taken care of,

I will be more outgoing.

I will be happier and feel
happier about myself.

- Nicole.
- Yes.

- How are you?
- Good, how are you?

I'm good.

When I've seen other doctors,
they tell me

there's nothing
they can do for me.

Dr. Lee is my last chance
because...

Hello. Hi. How are you?

I'm Sandra -- Dr. Lee.
It's really nice to meet you.

- You, too.
- Well, what's going on?

What can I do for you?

I have these bumps on my neck.

Oh, you do.
You hide them well.

I didn't even see them
until you lifted up.

Yeah, you do like this,
but when you...

When you lift up and you look
up at the sky, you see them.

Wow, they're just right
around your neck, huh?

Yeah.

Nicole has clusters of bumps
really wrapping around her neck.

There are possibilities
running through my mind

as to what this is,
but due to the location,

I'm pretty sure
I know what this is.

So, these look a lot to me like
what we call steatocystomas.

Because I've commonly seen them
in this area like this,

and they're like
these bumps like this.

I see, like, some little scars
here on your chest.

Did you have something
there before or...

Just trying to self...

Oh, you've been
squeezing them yourself?

Steatocystomas are a type of
cyst that are lined

by sebaceous glands,
which are oil glands.

Many people might think
they can pop steatocystomas

at home, but no.

I mean, you can't pop that

and then pull out that sac
without anesthesia.

She's got so many
and so many big ones.

Are there ones in particular
that bother you the most?

You have beautiful hair.

- So that helps to hide them.
- [ Laughs ] Right.

But basically
these ones bug me the most.

These.

You think you see
those the most there?

Mm-hmm.

Well...

We got our work cut out for us.

I mean,
that's a lot of numbing.

And I feel like you can see

a good number of these
right here.

And this Adam's apple thing
going on here.

Gosh, you got a big
cluster of them.

This one really bugs you, huh?

It makes me feel like
I have an Adam's apple.

- Yeah?
- And I'm really a girl, so...

Yes, you are.

She has so many
of these bumps.

I would love to treat them all
if I could,

but I think that
I'm limited by my hands.

You really have to pull on
these cyst walls

and try to get them out,
and your hand tires very easily.

Another risk is the amount
of numbing

that I can put in somebody.

There certainly is a point where
I could give too much numbing

and that could actually
be dangerous for somebody.

Okay, let me put some
numbing there

so we can get started
with you, okay?

Okay.

I don't care what happens.

I don't think if things
are spewing everywhere,

and getting messy, it's --

I don't care as long as
it gets done.

Okay. Oh, it's easy.

You've hurt yourself more than
I'm about to hurt you.

- I know. [ Laughs ]
- By pinching yourself, my gosh.

I know, I know, I know.

I'm not worried about anything.

And numbing agent,
it doesn't hurt that bad.

I'm ready.

♪

All right.

Okay.
Let's say goodbye to these.

So, my first one here
is on your neck here.

You shouldn't feel anything,
okay?

Other than my touching you,
nothing should be sharp.

- You okay?
- Mm-hmm.

Sorry.

Looks like a steatocystoma
to me.

And the sac here
is actually really thin,

but you can usually
kind of get it intact,

and that's when we know
we got it all there.

Oh, sorry. Did I hurt you?

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!

Nicole: It hurt. It surprised me
it hurt this much.

You okay?
You feeling okay?

Or are you feeling
a little tired right now?

No.

I'm trying to read you,
make sure you feeling okay.

Because this is a lot
to go through.

I don't usually do this
many steatocystomas

on a patient
on a single sitting.

And in fact,
I think it's turning out

to be harder on Nicole
than she thought it would be.

Make sure that nothing hurts,
okay?

♪

Oh, wait a minute.
I'm sorry.

This is a lot of these to do,
let me tell ya.

You're a trooper.

♪

I think you're done
with me, huh?

You need a little break
from me.

- You okay?
- Yeah, that just hurt.

♪

Sorry I'm pulling you
like that.

- [ Inhales sharply ]
- Ooh!

You scare me more than anything
when I do that,

but I don't want
to hurt you.

That hurt.

I felt that.

It's like a egg yolk lipoma.

It makes us hungry
for some eggs.

- Oh, god, I could not.
- Scrambled eggs.

Scrambled eggs
with some ketchup.

Mm-hmm.

It just makes me feel sick
to my stomach

'cause that's what we had
for breakfast this morning.

♪

♪

- [ Inhales sharply ]
- Ooh!

You scare me more than anything
when I do that,

but I don't want
to hurt you.

That hurt. I felt that.

- Whatever that was, that hurt.
- I pinched you there.

- Okay.
- That hurt.

Take a break, I'm gonna
numb you up right there.

I won't do that anymore.

I'm here with Nicole and she has
a large collection

of steatocystomas really
scattered around her neck.

I'm trying to remove as many
of them as I can,

but Nicole is actually having
a hard time with me doing this

because there are
just so many.

Do you want me to keep going,
or do you want to --

give you a little break and we
can work on these another day?

Keep it going.

We could be here all day,
I'm good.

- You have been here all day.
- [ Laughs ]

Nicole is uncomfortable,
but she is pretty determined

to get as many of these off
as she can,

and I can understand that

because when people
are looking at us,

they are going to draw
their attention to our neck.

And so I think Nicole
is willing to put up

with a little bit of discomfort

to really have the results
that she's looking for.

- This neck looks good here.
- Whew.

You sure you're okay?

It's a lot out of you
to do all this today.

This is a lot of stuff here,
a lot of bumpies.

Nicole: More than anything,
I just want it to be over.

Temptation's there to take
a break,

but, you know, I'm a trooper.

I wanted to keep going.

They're hiding under there.

They're so, like,
tough to locate.

At this point, I've probably
removed at least

20 steatocystomas from Nicole,

and I know how tough this is
for her to go through this,

but I also know how important
it is for her to do this

and feel better about herself.

I got to make sure she's okay.

You're all right though, right?
You're feeling good?

- Mm-hmm.
- Okay.

That was the last stitch
to Nicole's neck.

We are finally done.

Good morning, Princess.

Want to take a look?

Hold this mirror for you.

Oh, thank you.

It's just a little swollen
because we put numbing there,

but a lot of those
are all smooshed back in.

And this one, too.

You're gonna have a nice,
defined jaw line there.

There was actually a cluster
and than another one

under here we took off.

Nicole:
It's over. It's sore.

There's a little burning,

but it's nothing
I can't live through.

And the other side
of your neck,

you can see the whole
side of your neck.

- [ Speaks indistinctly ]
- Oh, yeah.

It's worth the pain, it's worth
everything I went through

to get them off.

She got off more than I thought
she was gonna get off,

and I'm just --
I'm happy. I'm happy.

Just can't wait to see what it
looks like when it heals.

- It's nice to see you.
- You, too.

Ooh, I'm gonna hit
your neck there.

You're doing good.
Bye-bye, take care.

Okay.

I feel like I got a new start.

Dr. Lee, I thank you so much
for everything you've done.

It was great,
it was worth everything.

♪

- Are you nervous?
- Yes.

Don't be nervous.

I'll be right here for you,
okay?

Okay.

I'm Steve, I'm 37 years old.

I'm from traverse city,
Michigan,

and I have the big bump
on my head.

I saw a doctor about three
to four years ago.

When the doctor
did the ultrasound,

he actually told me
it's a noncancerous bump,

so I just kind of quit
worrying about it.

Are you ready for this?

The question is are you
ready for this?

- Yes.
- Yeah?

All right.

I just want you to be able
to wear your hats again.

When I first met my wife Mandy,
I didn't have the bump,

and I used to wear hats
all the time.

She always said she fell
in love with me

because I always had
a backwards hat on.

I don't wear hats anymore
because

I get a pressure behind my eye

and it kind of shoots
down to my nose,

and so if it's gone, I can
start wearing my hats again.

♪

Steve?

- Hi.
- Hello.

Steve was more confident
before the bump,

but hopefully
with this bump off,

he can get his confidence.

Maybe it'll bring him
out of his egg shell.

Dr. Lee will be in
in just a moment.

- Thank you.
- Mm-hmm.

- Just think, it's almost here.
- I know.

Let's hope that
she can help you.

- Are you nervous?
- Mm-hmm.

[ Laughs ]

- Hello.
- Hi.

I have a two-fer in here today,
huh?

- Yeah.
- How are you?

- Good.
- I'm Sandra -- Dr. Lee.

Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you, I'm Steve.
- Nice to meet you, too.

Are you guys together,
obviously?

- Oh, sometimes.
- You are? Oh, yeah. I know.

Only when he's behaving,
right?

- Yes.
- Yes.

All right.
What do we got here?

Something that's parting
your hair a little bit.

I have a bump right here.

Mind if I take a little
touch of it?

Steve's got a bump
on his forehead

that's really hard to hide.

It is soft, it is mushy,
it moves around on his skin,

so I think it's a lipoma,

but it's grown
to a pretty large size.

This feels pretty soft
and movable,

but I think you got something
growing under there, obviously.

Yeah.

It feels like it
could be a lipoma.

Okay.

It's kind of soft and fleshy
like that.

Did you feel like you
ever traumatized it,

or, like,
banged your head?

Men usually do.

I bang my head a lot,
actually, at work, yeah.

- You do? Yeah.
- Yeah.

I mean, sometimes a hit
in the head

can kind of trigger
something like this.

I call it a traumatic lipoma.

So, um, I think we can try
to get that off

and try to hide that
scar line along your hairline.

Oh, that'd be awesome.

Which would be important,
I'm sure.

Am I gonna lose any more hair?

Nope, that wouldn't be
from me.

Maybe from someone driving you
crazy,

like over here
to your left, you know?

But I don't think
it'll be from me.

- All right?
- Okay, thank you.

Okay, you're welcome.
Let's get started, okay?

I'm ready.

Dr. Lee thinks
it could be a lipoma,

but I don't even know
what that is,

so hopefully
it's just nothing bad.

What if it squirts everywhere?

I hope it goes all over you.

Like...

Ugh.

- Ugh! Stop.
- [ Laughs ]

My wife Mandy's here
to support me,

but I think she just wants
to watch it more than anything,

see what's inside of it.

She keeps kind of grossing me
out with it.

I have a weak stomach
for anything like this.

Now it's actually me
having it done,

so I guess I can't have
a weak stomach today.

I'm not gonna have, like,
a huge band-aid on, am I?

- You will.
- I am?

Why, you don't want one?

I could put, like, a big bow
in it and stuff?

- No.
- We only have hello kitty left.

No? Hot pink?

- No, I'm good.
- But we are gonna wear --

you are gonna have
something pushed in there

unless you want me to sew
your hand to your head,

which I doubt
you want me to do.

Steve isn't very excited
about me bandaging his head,

but this is a point that
I don't really joke around with.

He could hate me over the next
24 hours

when I put
a big old headband on him,

but he's gonna
love me afterwards

because I'm gonna have prevented
some complications

that can occur
after a surgery like this.

Plus a big old bandage
for 24 hours is much better

than a big old bump like that
sitting around for life.

♪

All right, I'm gonna
just put a little piece

of gauze over here,

and I'm just gonna put
one little baby pinch here.

- Okay.
- Just like that.

I'm gonna kind of
miss the bump.

You might.
You might miss it.

It's kind of grown on me, too.

I kind of use it to think once
in a while, actually.

You do?

So you shouldn't feel anything

other than us
touching you, okay?

Yep.

♪

And it's a lipoma.

No backing out now.

The buzzing noise
you're gonna hear,

it's just a cautery that stops
little baby blood vessels.

The head is famous
for bleeding, essentially.

It is the area
that we really know

there's a lot
of blood vessels in,

and so I need to cauterize
the blood vessels

so I can see
what I'm doing.

Just gonna squeeze you here,
okay?

Okay.

♪

All right, he doesn't
want to pop out.

I'm gonna take him out
in a piece here first.

I'm always hoping
for a clean pop,

but this is a lipoma
on the forehead,

and so it's very unlikely
that I'm gonna be able

to pop it out whole,
and in this case, yes,

I'm finding myself
having to take it out in pieces.

It's like a egg yolk lipoma.

It makes us hungry
for some eggs.

- Oh, god, I could not.
- Scrambled eggs.

Scrambled eggs
with some ketchup.

- Mm-hmm.
- [ Laughs ]

Steve: It just makes me feel
sick to my stomach

'cause that's what we had
for breakfast this morning.

Dr. Lee: I'm piling it high

like the pieces of lipoma
that I take out.

I'm, like, piling it, so, like,
scalloped potatoes,

I'm slicing it.

Scalloped lipoma.

I'll never eat those again.

I bet not.

I bet she's gonna cook it up
for you,

and you're gonna be hungry,
and you're gonna eat some.

- Is it really big?
- I'll show it to you.

You're gonna see it all
in a scalloped pile.

[ Laughter ]

Aren't you getting hungry?

What are you gonna have
for dinner?

I probably won't eat
for a while now.

What?

All joking aside, I finally got
Steve's lipoma out

piece by piece without
any excessive bleeding,

and I think with a few stitches,
he's gonna look as good as new.

Here, take a look.

- Holy crap.
- Look at that, honey.

Wow, it's, like,
even everywhere.

- Who are you?
- Cute little hairline.

- Your stock just went up.
- That's crazy.

- Oh, man.
- Watch out.

- Yeah.
- [ Laughs ]

Steve: I feel great with no bump
right now, it's awesome.

I went from a bump to this
hideous-looking headband.

It looks like another egg
on my head,

but this one gets
to go away in a day.

You're the one who has to go out
with a headband on, not me.

I brought the hat, honey.

It's in a suitcase. I did.

Ah, that's awesome.

♪

...from Joseph.

- So I'm gonna keep it --
- that's where everybody is.

I was wondering
where you all were.

We were just talking about how
Christy needs a little pimple

popper onesie for the baby.

So you're gonna have, like,
a little mini you.

- Yeah.
- How fun is that gonna be?

Wouldn't it be so cute
if you bought

matching scrubs for the baby?

No, I'm in scrubs all day.

She can be all cute
and stylish.

What's wrong with scrubs?

[ Laughter ]

Come on, scrubs are cute!

And they're like pajamas,
which is really nice.

- That's true.
- I can just slip right into bed.

No, I take them off
as soon as we're done.

I'm clocked out,
they're coming off.

That's right.
And the bra, too.

[ Laughter ]

♪

- I just need to get through it.
- You do?

Are you a little grossed out
about this whole thing?

Well... phew.

Oh, I hope I don't throw up.

♪

♪

My name is Allen,
I am 52 years old,

live in cottonwood, Arizona,
and I have a lump.

♪

Quite a large lump, actually.

Just noticed it once day
probably about 20 years ago.

I had a quarter-sized
bump there.

I did go to a doctor.

They wrote it off
as a fatty lump.

So I just kind of didn't really
play into it too much,

and, uh, basically has been
a gradual growth from there.

♪

I'm always active, but I've been
heavy off and on all my life.

Just knowing that this
is actually a fat type of issue,

I kind of thought losing weight
would help alleviate that.

This last year or so,
I've lost probably 50 pounds,

but it didn't make a change.

It actually -- you know,
I shrunk, but it got bigger.

I'm doing better health-wise,

but unfortunately,
if I work out, it does hurt.

You know, you're always
gonna have pain,

but it's not a good pain.
[ Chuckles ]

It's not, like, you know, my
muscles are getting better pain.

It's like, "that hurts."

[ Dogs barking in distance ]

The other issue that I have
is range of mobility.

I work on cars for a living,
and there's times that

if I got to get
my arm buried up in something,

it can get in the way,
or I can catch it.

♪

There's times that I come
home bleeding

from having to reach
into things

because you got to get
in tight spots sometimes.

And with that there,
I'm feeling it.

I'm actually feeling the thing,
and that's what's concerning me.

♪

Oh, this is beautiful
out here today.

April is my fiancé.

She is a woman that came into
my life a year and a half ago,

and we've been trudging along
pretty good ever since.

- Oh!
- [ Laughs ] Get him!

Get him! Get daddy!
Go get him!

And she's the reason that we're
here today talking, honestly.

You've done a lot for me,
you know?

And it just really --
it means a lot.

You know it does.

I've never been really much
for going to doctors.

I'm actually afraid of knives,

and the doctor,
and going under.

My boss went in for a knee
replacement and he died.

And that just...

When the doctor tells you you're
gonna be fine and you're not,

I guess that kind of
scared me, too.

It's one of those things where,
uh, putting it off for so long,

and then not knowing what's
really even going on down there.

If it is something bad,

then we'll deal with it
when it gets here.

Allen's fears
regarding his lump, uh,

there's quite
a lot of them, actually.

He fears
going under the knife,

he fears that his lump
is something really bad.

But he needs to quit
worrying so much about it

and just have
the procedure done.

♪

I'm in front of
Dr. Lee's office

and I'm kind of anxious,
a little scared.

There's a lot going
through my mind right now.

The getting cut open.

I don't do good with blood,
I guess.

I mean, I don't, like, pass out
or nothing, but it's just...

I don't like seeing things
cut open.

You'll be okay.
Just don't puke, okay?

I really don't know how Allen

is gonna handle the procedure.

I do not think Allen would've
come here if it wasn't for me.

Definitely a little dragging
and screaming to get him here,

but the important thing
is we're here now.

Allen?

If I can get through
the procedure,

it's kind of gonna be
one of those

really big things in my head
as to where to go from here.

♪

- Hello.
- Hi, how are you guys?

How are you doing?
Glad to meet you.

I'm Sandra, it's really nice
to meet you.

- Welcome. Hi, how are you?
- Hi.

- I'm good.
- Nice to meet you, too.

What can I do for you today?
What's going on?

You hiding something from me?

- Yeah, I got an extra --
- he's got a problem.

An extra forehead over here.

Oh, you do.

- Yeah.
- Let me see.

If you don't mind,
I'm gonna give it a touch here.

Can you raise your arm up
for me, too? All right.

- How long have you had that?
- That's bigger than a handful.

- About 20 years.
- Yeah?

It looks like a lipoma,
and I feel like this

is what cramps your style
a little bit, huh?

- Yeah.
- Can I get the first cut?

Well, I don't know about that.

- I just need to get through it.
- You do?

Are you a little grossed out
about this whole thing?

Well, I -- no,
I think I'll be good.

I'm sensing a bit of hesitation
from Allen.

I'm not sure if he's really
scared of pain, of doctors,

of needles,

but, you know, a little bit
of apprehension is normal.

Just -- you keep
your eyes closed

and we'll keep
our eyes open, okay?

Yeah.

All right, so I'm gonna get
all set up

and you get your mind
around this, too,

and I'll see you
in a little bit.

We're gonna do it.
We're gonna do it.

Okay? Okay.
All right, good.

I'm excited for you.
I'll see you in a little bit.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Oh, I hope I don't throw up.

♪

Okay, I think we got a pretty
sizeable, head-shaped,

probably lipoma
on this gentleman's arm.

He gets a little queasy with
things, so he's not gonna look.

So keep an eye on him
while we're doing surgery,

and let me know if you have
any questions or anything.

Phew.

I'm nervous just the fact that
they're gonna cut me open,

the fact that I don't know
what's in there.

Um...

The blood.

April is basically gonna be
holding my hand

through this procedure.

She does better with these
kind of things than I do.

Dr. Lee: Okay, so what
I'm gonna do first

is we're gonna put
that numbing in,

then we're gonna let it sit
for a couple minutes here, okay?

Mm-hmm.

♪

You okay?

See how it feels maybe a little
tight, but not bad, huh?

Not feeling nothing right now.

- All right.
- I need to relax.

I don't know why I'm getting
so tense right now.

Don't worry,
don't get so tense.

Usually what happens is once
you start doing it,

you realize it's like
such a piece of cake.

Like, you don't feel anything.
You're, like, happy it's gone,

and you're just
chatting with us.

♪

[ Exhales slowly ]

Are you okay?

I deal with anxious patients
on a daily basis,

but there are some people
who really can't endure

that type of surgery.

If they are too anxious,
they really need to be

considered for
general anesthesia.

I would love to help Allen.
I'm sure he wants my help.

But it really is not safe for me

to operate on a person like this
if he's that agitated.

I just -- I get in my head.

Just a little anxiety.
But I'll be -- I'll make it.

I'm anxious right now.

I don't know if I can
even go through this.

God, I don't know why I turn
into such a wuss as I get older.

Allen's sweating profusely,
and he's cold, kind of

like he's going into shock,
getting real pale.

I've never seen him freak out
like this before.

♪

Want a little something
to relax you?

Probably should've given
that you a little before.

David: Since the surgery
six weeks ago,

everything's gotten better.

- Hey, you.
- What's going on?

Richele: I see the pictures of
your hair and you look great.

♪

♪

Allen's here with what looks

like a very large lipoma
on his shoulder.

I've already placed

the tumescent anesthesia
in place,

but I have to find a way
to calm him down,

or I'm not gonna be able
to proceed with the surgery.

Want a little something
to relax you?

Probably should've given that
to you a little before.

Yeah, give me one,
what the heck.

In extreme cases when
a patient is really nervous,

if they're experiencing
a lot of anxiety,

I can give them some medications
that will help to relax them.

Okay.

Can we get him
a little blanket or something?

I want Allen to be
as comfortable as possible.

- How are you doing?
- Let's do it.

♪

Okay, you shouldn't feel
anything, like I said, okay?

Stop your sighing.

You're doing fantastic.

April: Just stuff that looks
like chicken, basically,

coming out of his arm.
It's adorable.

- You're doing all right?
- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Allen seems to have relaxed
a bit,

but I want to move
pretty quickly

because I don't want
to give him too much time

to think
about what's happening.

Well, I can see why
you didn't do it now,

because you don't like us.
- Oh, it's not that.

Nothing personal,
I know you like me.

Out of anybody,
you like me the most.

But in general,
you don't like us.

Last time I had
a medical procedure, funny,

is I had a vasectomy.

- Uh-huh.
- And, uh...

How was that?

The doctor, he was like, "uh,
you're not gonna make it?"

I'm like,
"no, we're gonna do this."

What do you mean
he didn't think you were --

oh, I was the same way.

I didn't think I was gonna
make it through it.

Same way?
Ah, you're gonna do this.

Ah, okay.

Yeah, you got to let me know
that beforehand.

- Yeah.
- How was recovering from that?

- It wasn't too bad?
- Uh...

- A little testy?
- I was in pain.

- Yeah, I was a little testy.
- [ Laughs ]

- Exactly.
- Almost there.

We almost have
the whole thing out.

- Yeah?
- Just kind of ease it out.

All right, we got it all out.

But now we're just gonna stitch
you up and you're out of here.

I knew you could do it.

I-I had doubts
you could do it.

I worked really hard to remove

Allen's lipoma and I need to put
these stitches in quickly

because I know he wants to
get out from under my grasp.

There's just fluid there,
a little.

Oh, wow.

Actually, you see the definition
in your deltoid now, huh?

Wow.

It's amazing.

You know, I'm glad that
I was able to stick through

and get through the procedure

and not cop out like
I have in the past.

- Awesome.
- It looks good.

Yeah, it does. Really good.
Thank you.

You're gonna see,
it'll be like that --

it'll be flatter tomorrow.

- Yeah.
- You want me to weigh it?

Yeah.

- Oh, it's three pounds.
- Wow!

Allen is three pounds lighter,

but I did spot
a little skin tag,

so I thought I'd give him
a little extra oomph.

Like, a little skin-tag bonus
and take that off for him.

Now that I'm not coming at you
with anything sharp,

now you're all calm.

- So that's great.
- Thank you.

Take care, we'll see you.

- Thank you, sweetie.
- Thank you.

You take good care.
Keep taking good care of him.

Keep giving him hell.

- Oh, I will.
- I know.

- For the rest of his life.
- [ Laughs ]

Yeah, I needed pretty much
everything other than

a stuffed animal to get me
through the procedure,

but I made it.

It kind of renewed
my confidence in doctors.

In hindsight, I wish I would've
got it done sooner.

I'm very grateful to Dr. Lee.

She has honestly
changed my life.

♪

Dr. Lee: It's been nine weeks
since Allen's surgery.

He looks fantastic.

He's back to working out
with no discomfort.

I think he's really happy
with his results.

Good luck, Allen!

♪

Mommy, a train!
I just saw a train!

I know. Okay, come on.

It's been a couple months
since the procedure.

Before I saw Dr. Lee,
I felt really miserable.

But now I feel great.
[ Laughs ]

There's been a huge change
in my life.

Now, you know,
my confidence levels

I back to where it used to be.

Now that most of my cysts
are gone,

I don't worry about
having to cover up.

I pay more attention
to myself now.

Inside, outside,

I'm just feeling
so much better about myself.

Everything used to revolve
around those wigs, those wigs.

I really don't have
those wigs anymore.

I just choose to braid my hair,
pull it back, and just go.

All the pain I went through,

I so swear, it's nothing
compared to the aftermath

in your self-esteem level
when the cysts are gone.

It's totally worth it.

I would do it again,
and I would recommend

anyone see Dr. Lee.

She's the wonder doctor.

Let me have the shredded beef.

- All right.
- And I'll take a sprite.

Excellent.

Since the surgery six weeks ago,
everything's gotten better.

Now I look normal.
[ Laughs ]

I can sleep better,
I breathe better, I look better.

You know, I'm quite
happy with it.

The one on my eye here,

Dr. Lee did a really,
really good job.

The cancer's gone, and knock
on wood, it'll stay away.

- Hey, you.
- What's going on?

I've seen the pictures of your
hair, and you look great.

I hope we see
each other soon here.

Richele and I hadn't seen each
other for two and a half years,

so when she came down to be
with me through the surgery,

I think that helped a lot
about our relationship.

I'm just really thankful
for what Dr. Lee did for me.

I mean, it's totally amazing.

She gave me my life back,
no doubt about that.