Four years ago, I got the shingles vaccine—not the new and improved one that requires two doses but the one that was available in 2015. In less than a day, the injection site on my left arm had a big angry welt and it hurt. While the redness and pain diminished, the welt turned into a visible lump that bothered me. It didn’t hurt/hurt, but it was annoying and I hated how it felt and looked.
In September when I saw my dermatologist for my biannual follow up for melanoma, he commented on it and offered to remove it. I said heck yes, so on October 24, he excised it and sent it off for biopsy. He was very confident it was a dermatofibroma, but as he said, it’s always better to get that diagnosis confirmed by pathology.
Fortunately he did send it for analysis because it’s not a dermatofibroma but an atypical leiomyoma and quite rare. In fact, Dr. Google had very few resources for me. I found some good information here (but you have to create a free account to read), and also here. But there’s not a lot out there.
The pathology report also said more tissue needs to come out because what was taken doesn’t have clean margins. So joy of joys, I get to have another chunk removed from my left arm.
In September when I saw my dermatologist for my biannual follow up for melanoma, he commented on it and offered to remove it. I said heck yes, so on October 24, he excised it and sent it off for biopsy. He was very confident it was a dermatofibroma, but as he said, it’s always better to get that diagnosis confirmed by pathology.
Fortunately he did send it for analysis because it’s not a dermatofibroma but an atypical leiomyoma and quite rare. In fact, Dr. Google had very few resources for me. I found some good information here (but you have to create a free account to read), and also here. But there’s not a lot out there.
The pathology report also said more tissue needs to come out because what was taken doesn’t have clean margins. So joy of joys, I get to have another chunk removed from my left arm.
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