The Lump Was Nothing: Lipoma and Cyst Removal Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe lipomas and skin cysts, from the first frightened discovery to removal, or the decision to leave them alone. An electrician sure his shoulder lump was a muscle knot, a barber with a cyst on his scalp, a truck driver without health insurance, a bride with a low-backed dress, a pilot worried about his medical certificate, a joiner on blood thinners, and the parents of a three-year-old and a six-year-old all appear. They write from Leeds to Kampala, Saskatoon to Kuala Lumpur. Writers describe scans, waiting lists, suction instead of a cut, injections, a drain worn for a week, removal under local anaesthetic, a cyst that burst at two in the morning, and lumps squeezed at home until they became infected. An insurer's letter calling a lump cosmetic, timing surgery around harvest, health anxiety, diabetes and slow healing, a breast lump after a mother's cancer, and living alone after an operation all shape the choices. Several decided to keep their lumps and watch them. Not everything resolves simply: one cyst came back and needed a second removal, a large lipoma left a dent, an injection only half worked, and one man's lump turned out to be not quite nothing.

Who it's for

For anyone who has just found a lump under the skin, people offered removal or told to watch and wait, parents of a child with a lump, and partners sitting in the waiting room.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 233 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.