48 Yo Male with 1000s of the Awful Things. Qatar

Yes thats right 1000s. Being from the UK removal of these awful things was never a medical priority even though they hurt and looked dreadful. I have them on both my arms trunk and top of my legs. You dont realise how many times you knock yourself during the day until you catch the lipomas.

Due to work I ended up in Qatar where they run a national health service, you pay a minimal amount as a non Qatari for treatment. I arranged an appointment with a plastic surgeon who said no problem we will take them out. I was dumbfounded, this is the first time a doctor had said yes we need to get rid. Not only were the lumps painful but they had started to interfere with tendon and joint movement.

I have now had two lots of surgery, day cases both. First op was on my right arm where he removed 60 odd and the second last week on my left arm were another 80 something were removed. The cuts are small and will heal without much of a scar. The closure was via dissolvable stitches, super glue and tape. This method meant I could take a shower the day after my op.

My first surgery is now two months old and the scars are little indents which will level out once the fat layer returns. My left arm is a mass of surgical tape at the moment but soon the tape will fall off leaving the freshly healed scars. I now have normal looking arms. The other thing I noted was that my right arm is now not itchy! I had not noticed that this was a issue.

I will see my surgeon next week as a post op consultation and discuss how he is going to remove the many more that are on my chest, stomach and waist line. That is going to be interesting. I had no pain whatsoever from the operation. For those who have had tattoos will recognise the irritation after the event but not pain.

I recon it will be a little over 9 months in total to remove most of the lumps, but as the surgeon says it is almost impossible to remove all. A little advice is that sometimes the lumps are stacked, one on top of another, make sure they have a dig round underneath to make sure they get them all from that incision.

It is the best thing I have ever undertaken, if you get the chance get them removed.

Selected photos of my surgery, please note there is a picture that some may not like.

Stage three: Ive been back to see my doctor and he has booked me in to start on my torso. So in two months time Ill be back under the knife. This time it will be the area around my left stomach and waistband area. I have many there so Ive been booked in at a time when he can spend more time on me, less pressure from other patients. Told you he was good.

My right arm scars are starting to reduce considerably, its not 10 weeks or so since the op. I have been using bio oil on a regular basis to reduce the scaring but the doc recons 12 months and they will be just shiny patches on the skin. The biggest cut I had on my right arm is 3/4".

My left arm lumps where a completely different case. They clumped together and were larger. The longest scar being two inches plus. This is now going through the ugly phase. The stitches are dissolving and are still puckered. This flattens out as the stitches dissolve and the skin gets the chance to relax. All of the super glue has gone so its now clean looking.

I noticed that the doctor had missed a couple here and there. He was not bothered and stated that he expected to do a clean up op, just to go over and get rid of the last he couldn't see first time around. I didnt expect to have them all removed but hes adamant about doing a complete job.

So I think I have another 12 months of operations to go through, but hey I am looking flatish!

Ive also been training hard on my cycle, plus watching what I eat. Reducing my weight will help not only the surgeon to find the lumps but reduces the scaring after effects.

See photos, Right arm 10 weeks, left arm 2 weeks. I would take better pictures but holding on to a camera and get far enough away by myself is difficult!

See photos, Right arm 10 weeks, left arm 2 weeks. I would take better pictures but holding on to a camera and get far enough away by myself is difficult!

Two weeks ago I went in to have more lumps removed from my waist. These lumps stop me bending properly or should I say get in the way. I have so many here the surgeon and I decided that a larger scar would be more convenient than lots of smaller scars. The doctor decided to do both sides of my waist. I now have incisions from under my ribs on my back to just under my belly button. I lost nearly 2kgs of lumps. Obviously this was a lot bigger operation than the last two and I was kept in overnight.
It must just be me as I haven't had any real pain just a bit of discomfort, and very tired. I was actually back in work two days later for some meetings.
For the first time in years I now have a waist, my clothes are now more comfortable and once the strange feeling about the incisions subsides.. Well happy days.
I am taking a break from the removal process for a few months to let my bodies resources recover.
I should also say that all of the stitches are internal so I have been left with two lines rather than the stereotypical scar.