Getting acupuncture at the Cancer Institute

My husband has these two tiny lumps, maybe an inch across, on his lower back near his waist. You can only feel them if you really search the area with your fingers. He saw his primary care physician, who suggested they’re likely just harmless fatty deposits, but she still recommended he head over to a specialized cancer center for a biopsy just to be safe.
Naturally, I'm worried, and he isn't exactly indifferent to the situation either.
Could this actually be some kind of tumor, or... what else could these lumps be?

It’s actually pretty common and usually nothing to worry about. My sister had one once, but she wouldn't even bother seeing a doctor until it started getting annoying. Eventually, she just had it surgically removed over a decade ago. She’s 70 now, and even though she deals with all sorts of health stuff, that lump is long gone.

Back in the day, people used to call those harmless little tumors "wild meat."

Getting the facts is the only way to stop worrying. Sometimes they don't even bother operating if they're still in that "growing" phase. Who knows how she's doing now?

Lipomas can be clinically identified, so it’s absolute nonsense to puncture every single one.
An ultrasound might be an option in some cases.
Every primary care physician should be able to recognize benign growths and refer anything suspicious for further testing, rather than being completely uncritical and failing to perform any kind of triage at all.
General practitioners are notorious for being afraid of their own shadows, sending us specialists all sorts of nonsense.
In the West, about 70% of cases are handled in primary care, yet here, it's less than 7%.
This doesn't just cost a massive amount of money; it also clogs up specialist offices with unnecessary work, meaning those who actually need specialized help often can't get seen in time....
I'm a surgeon, and I have the opportunity to examine perfectly healthy people every day. When I ask them why they're here, they very often say, "I don't know, my doctor said it was nothing, but told me to come see you anyway..."

I mean, it’s all true. But honestly, what do I know? Most GPs out there just don't have the knack for proper triage, and if you ask me, it’s way safer to refer someone out than to mess around with a "diet and painkillers" approach when they've got something serious going on. My mom went through this exact nightmare—she had gangrenous cholecystitis right on the verge of perforation, and the doctor tried to treat her with nothing but a strict diet and some basic OTC meds. She wouldn't have even made it to the hospital if I hadn't practically dragged her there myself, and once we arrived, she was rushed straight into surgery because her gallbladder was basically seconds away from bursting.

My take? It feels like there’s a mountain of theory being taught, but almost zero hands-on practical experience during med school or residency. So, what can you really expect? At this point, I’d much rather they just send patients to a specialist than have someone get stuck in a dangerous situation because their doctor was too hesitant to pass the baton. 😢

In my view, the core issue is that we specialists are being undervalued. I’m not talking about our own salaries here, but rather how Medicare consistently underpays for the actual services we provide.

A full specialist consultation, regardless of the field, is billed at whatever rate Medicare dictates in their fee schedule $23 😈

Primary care doctors don't even bother with a proper physical—they won't palpate an abdomen or take a detailed medical history. They just write a referral to a surgeon and wash their hands of the situation...
As a result, I end up sitting in a waiting room with five or six of these so-called "emergencies." On top of my scheduled appointments, I have to squeeze these people in, only to find out none of them were urgent. It creates a mess: the "emergency" patients get frustrated by the wait, the scheduled patients get annoyed because we're pushing them back to make room, and I’m left stuck trying to see 30 or 40 patients instead of 20, all for the exact same reimbursement.

Take today, for example. I was sent a patient from a nursing home with a referral for *Keratosis faciei*... but there wasn't a trace of keratosis, just some *lentigo senilis*. Neither of those actually requires a surgical consult. $23 That money just vanished from the federal treasury... some might say it isn't much. But when you multiply that by 70 cases, it adds up fast. Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, there are people who can't access necessary medication simply because the funding isn't there.

Look, if she isn't absolutely certain those are just cysts, it would be far more prudent to send him in for a biopsy... besides, serious issues can often masquerade as benign growths at first glance 😉
Furthermore, the patient's wife actually undressed her and performed a proper examination, which is something you should give credit to in primary care 😁

That’s certainly better than the alternative: when a doctor sees an elevated sedimentation rate and immediately starts writing orders for chest X-rays, gastroscopies, throat swabs, and a laundry list of other tests without even bothering to physically examine the woman... though had she actually checked her, she would have spotted a walnut-sized lump on the breast (honestly, you could see it from a plane) 🙄

Or even worse, like when my late grandmother's GP told her that a sedimentation rate of 120 was practically normal for someone her age and there was no point going to the hospital because she was too old... meanwhile, it turned out to be a plasmacytoma 😠 🙄 🙄

My apologies once again for the double post. 😵

Everything requires balance. You can't be overly self-assured, yet you shouldn't be completely lacking in confidence either. To actually achieve that equilibrium, though, there needs to be continuous education—which is a major issue in primary care. Once doctors close their textbooks after med school, they rarely pick them up again. Perhaps they could mandate that all family practitioners undergo a formal residency or specialization program within the next 10 to 15 years. That way, they'd spend a few years rotating through hospital wards, refreshing what they already know while picking up new skills along the way.

hiddencrane18 and everyone else, thanks so much—you've calmed me down. I was honestly panicking. As soon as I heard terms like biopsy and a cancer institute, I just spiraled, and my husband is just as stressed as I am.
Thanks again, truly.👍