# Do you have a toomah? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 29, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353 "2011-01-29T00:24:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/1 "2011-01-29T00:24:51Z")
After I got my tumor diagnosed, the doctor told me that people live with non-malignant tumors all the time, and don’t get surgery if they are small enough. Also, it has to be a certain size to be a tumor at all. Below say 10mm, it’s classified as something else. So I was wondering: how many people kept their tumors? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/2 "2011-01-29T00:39:07Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > …the doctor told me that people live with non-malignant tumors all the time… Including warts, but they can be surgically removed, and are usually less than 10mm. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/3 "2011-01-29T01:54:44Z")
It’s not a toomah. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/4 "2011-01-29T02:14:04Z")
Mine’s so big it’s a threemor! But seriously, not that I know of. It’s definitely possible since my mom had ovarian cysts and fatty breastules (whatever they’re called). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/5 "2011-01-29T03:43:29Z")
I had my tumor removed, or it would have killed me. Pure seminoma testicular cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/6 "2011-01-29T05:03:17Z")
Warning: TMI! (spoiler space if you’re squeamish about ladyparts): Until last December, I had a very large uterine fibroid, about the size of a large grapefruit. I had to have a hysterectomy in order to have it removed. It turned out to have brought two friends along (all benign, thankfully.) My GYN said it was the largest fibroid he had ever seen. While I miss my uterus a little, I don’t miss the tumors or the accompanying side effects, including very heavy, painful periods. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/7 "2011-01-29T19:52:14Z")
I felt a lump in my arm several years ago. I went to the doctor and he felt around it and said it was probably a lipoma (fatty tumor), and if I were concerned about it, they could schedule a biopsy. I told him that was OK, that I would just keep an eye on it, and if it got noticeably larger or caused any problems, then I might come back for a biopsy. That’s been about five years ago. ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/8 "2011-01-29T20:18:02Z")
I have about a hundred lipomas on my body. had only one removed. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/9 "2011-01-29T20:33:57Z")
I have fibroadenomas in both my breasts. They have about the same chance of becoming cancer, as I have of dying by being struck by a meteor. The only annoying thing is, every new doctor wants to poke & prod them. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/10 "2011-01-29T21:11:36Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I have fibroadenomas in both my breasts. They have about the same chance of becoming cancer, as I have of dying by being struck by a meteor. The only annoying thing is, every new doctor wants to poke & prod them. Hello, ma’am. I’m a new doctor. May I? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/11 "2011-01-29T21:28:08Z")
Got a big honkin’ dermatofibroma on my forearm, and a couple of smaller ones on my scalp. Back when the one on my arm was smaller than a pencil eraser, my doctor decilned to remove it (“not necessary” = “not insured”); now, with no job, no money, no insurance, it’s out of the question, but I really want it gone. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/12 "2011-01-29T23:28:11Z")
I don’t think so. How would I recognise one? ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/13 "2011-01-30T03:50:26Z")
Aren’t moles essentially benign tumors? In which case, most of us have them. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-toomah/569353/14 "2011-01-30T19:11:35Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > fatty breastules (whatever they’re called). Either you mean silent film comedian [Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Arbuckle) or a [fatty corpuscle](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/corpuscle).