It was a benign tumor

I knew when the nurse told me, "The doctor would like to remove your stitches herself," that something was up. I was back in at the DMOS (Des Moines Orthopedic Surgeons) office to see Dr. Kallemeier, the surgeon who removed the foreign object from my elbow a couple weeks ago.

You may have read that blog, but in case you didn't, here's the Cliffs Notes version. I'd been experiencing pain in my elbow for over a year now. I tried ignoring it, but finally got it checked out. A nerve study doc said I had a partially obstructed nerve in that arm. But I also knew I had this weird bump in my elbow.

After the nerve test, I was off to see the surgeon - Patricia Kallemeier, who ran me through some tests and decided to do an MRI. Next up, surgery to remove the darn bump, since I didn't have any of the obstructed nerve (called cubital tunnel) symptoms.

The object Dr. Kallemeier took out of my elbow was the weirdest thing. It had hair and little tiny teeth. It was my TWIN! Her name was Imelda and she loved shoes. Oh, no, guess that was from my Big Fat Greek Wedding - a great movie. And I made up the shoe part.

So anyway, while Dr. Kallemeier snipped those stitches, she explained the little pea shaped thing she took out of me was actually an Angioleiomyoma - a benign tumor. I'm her first patient to have this type of tumor. (and don't I feel special).

The article she gave me says 60% of people with these tumors experience pain like I did. (my exact words to describe this pain are "it burns like a bitch"). I guess the other 40% of folks have friendly non-painful benign tumors. Surgery seems to have done the trick! I've not felt the burn since she popped that puppy out. I'm glad the stitches are out too.

I feel very fortunate that - first, it was benign. And that I have great insurance and access to wonderful healthcare professionals.

I hope I didn't lose my love of shoes now that Imelda is no longer living inside me.