A man has been left overwhelmed with emotion after a 30-year-old giant lump on his head was removed.
For three decades, Clyde, 57, had an enormous bump in the middle of his forehead after he was hit by a cricket ball at close range.
In the second episode of the new series of The Bad Skin Clinic, the husband visited London-based dermatologist Dr Emma Craythorne in the hope of finally having the lump removed.
‘It’s quite an unusual thing. Sometimes I’ve laid in bed and just thought “why have I got this?”‘ reflected Clyde on yesterday’s programme.
‘Plus my dog, she wakes me up in the morning and is licking the lump on my head. I say “Cheers Bonnie, you’re reminding me the lump’s there,”’ he laughed, finding the lighter side of the situation.
In the second episode of the new series of The Bad Skin Clinic, Clyde (pictured right), 57, visited London-based dermatologist Dr Emma Craythorne (pictured left) in the hope of finally having the lump on his head removed
Clyde had become increasingly self-conscious about the bump – after it first appeared two years after the cricket ball incident.
Joined by his wife Caroline, he explained to Dr Emma how he had already made a visit to Turkey to try and have the lump removed, but the doctors weren’t able to help him.
‘I’m in this hospital and they tried to remove it, but unfortunately they couldn’t do it. I came home with a scar and a lump,’ he said regretfully.
‘I’ve never known Clyde without it,’ Caroline told Dr Emma. ‘He had it when we met, but I have noticed over the last few years Clyde’s got more conscious about it.’
After inspecting the bump, Dr Emma was immediately able to identify the bump as a lipoma and explained to Clyde what could be done to remove it.
The doctor said: ‘So, undoubtedly this is a lipoma. ‘Lipo’ means fat and ‘oma’ is a benign tumour. The only way to get rid of this is to have it surgically removed.
‘Usually I would have done the incision this way (horizontally), but because you’ve already got an incision this way (vertically), I think it makes sense just to carry that on up and over. I’ll then pop it out, then it will be a nice flat area.’
However, it could be ‘more complicated’ due to the doctor having to work her way around the failed previous work that Clyde had done in Turkey.
Clyde had become increasingly self-conscious about the bump – after it first appeared two years after the cricket ball incident
After inspecting the bump, Dr Emma was immediately able to identify the bump as a lipoma and explained to Clyde what could be done to remove it
In surgery, after she made the initial incisions in to Clyde’s scalp, the doctor explained: ‘So what we’ve now got to try and do is get this lipoma out of this little hole that we’ve made.
‘What’s interesting about Clyde’s lipoma is that he’s previously had an attempted excision on this. That sometimes can mean that these lipomas are a little bit more complicated,’ said Dr Emma.
In surgery, after she made the initial incisions in to Clyde’s scalp, the doctor explained: ‘So what we’ve now got to try and do is get this lipoma out of this little hole that we’ve made.
‘You just have to ease it out,’ she explained, before gently applying pressure to both sides. ‘Alright, let’s see if we can squeeze it out. Sorry for the pressing Clyde… there it is,’ she reassured him as she pulled it out of the wound.
Whilst Dr Emma had successfully removed the bulk of the lipoma from Clyde’s forehead, she wasn’t completely convinced that it had been fully removed.
‘There’s something here, can you see this move?’ she said to her assistant. ‘I think it’s just scar tissue where they went in before at the front.
‘But because it’s moving a bit I’m just trying to wiggle my way around here to see if there’s anything at all that they maybe disrupted. There is definitely something there… I think it’s a little bit of lipoma.’
With further searching and prodding with her surgical tools, Dr Emma identified and removed another, smaller piece of lipoma that was trapped behind the further scar tissue that had been created by Clyde’s previous surgery.
‘Yabba dabba doo!’ Clyde jokingly said after Dr Emma told him she had removed the entirety of the bump.
After stitching his forehead wound back up, Dr Emma showed Clyde his new forehead in the mirror. ‘Oh my god! I’m speechless… It’s round!’ a delighted Clyde exclaimed about the new shape of his head
Clyde grinned from ear to ear as his wife Caroline walked in. ‘Oh my god, you look so different! Your face, you look so happy,’ a shocked Caroline said
After stitching his forehead wound back up, Dr Emma showed Clyde his new forehead in the mirror.
‘Oh my god! I’m speechless… It’s round!’ a delighted Clyde exclaimed about the new shape of his head.
‘It’s perfect actually. You’ve got a great shape of a skull,’ a beaming Dr Emma agreed.
‘Caroline isn’t going to recognise me. It’s going to totally change the way I feel about myself. Dr Emma certainly works her magic doesn’t she?’ a visibly emotional Clyde said to the cameras.
Clyde grinned from ear to ear as his wife Caroline walked in. ‘Oh my god, you look so different! Your face, you look so happy,’ a shocked Caroline said.
‘I do, I feel a million dollars,’ Clyde replied. ‘So what shall we do tonight then, take a few selfies?’ he joked as they left the clinic. ‘Look in the mirror?’ Caroline laughed.
The new series of The Bad Skin Clinic sees Dr Emma and her team face some of the most challenging cases of her career to date as she helps those with nowhere left to turn.
With the dedicated care of Dr Emma, her patients finally get the attention they need to heal their skin ailments and change their lives forever.
‘When a skin disease affects the face it can be devastating. Not just physically, but also emotionally and socially. And that’s where I come in,’ she explained.
Episode 2 of the 7th series of The Bad Skin Clinic aired on Really on Tuesday 15th October, 9pm. Also available to stream on discovery+.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk