The season finale of 'Dr. Pimple Popper' featured a lipoma with a scary secret here's a closer l

• In the season finale of "Dr. Pimple Popper," Dr. Sandra Lee treated a woman with a lipoma on her butt — but it's no ordinary lipoma.
• Tests reveal that the patient, Taylor, has a fat deposit that's inside her spinal cord. 
• It's apparently linked to the bump on her backside, meaning that any removal procedure could be risky.
• Eventually, Lee successfully removes some of the bump to give Taylor a more "normal" appearance.
• Warning: This post contains graphic images. 

Fans of Dr. Sandra Lee's TLC show "Dr. Pimple Popper" will have to wait patiently for more pops. While the series has officially been renewed for a second season starting in January 2019, the first season came to a close on Wednesday night. 

The show's first five episodes diverged from the types of pops that made Lee famous on YouTube. Yes, there were still a few bursting cysts and satisfying lipoma removals, but many patients came to Lee for help with complex, mysterious, totally un-poppable skin conditions.

But the finale showcased Lee's most fascinating case yet: A bump on the butt that seemed like a lipoma but actually signaled a serious health issue.

Here's a closer look at the episode. 

The episode starts with Taylor, a 22-year-old with a lump on her backside

In an interview filmed at her home, Taylor explains that she's had the lump since she was born, though it grew bigger in her teenage years. It sits almost directly in Taylor's gluteal cleft — the body part more popularly known as the butt crack. 

Taylor says a previous doctor told her the lump was a lipoma, or a benign fatty tumor. She had removed it in 2016, but then it grew back. She estimates it's roughly the size of a baseball. Even though she's given it a nickname ("Lizzie the Lipoma") Taylor adds that the lump affects her self-confidence. 

"I can't hide it all the time. And every once in a while I'll be in a fitting room and I'll try something on and get so angry," Taylor says in the interview. "I can honestly say I feel defeated."

Lee notices "warning bells" when she examines the bump

In an exam room at Lee's office, Taylor says that, despite having surgery to remove it, her lipoma has grown back even larger than it used to be. She also tells Lee that she's had the lump since birth — her mother noticed it when she was a toddler. 

Both revelations strike Lee as strange. 

"There's two warning bells," Lee tells Taylor. "One is, why did this doctor remove this ... and then it came right back? And then the other big thing for me is, a regular lipoma does not appear at birth. You get that over time. There could be something else going on."

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Given the bump's location near the spine, Lee asks whether or not Taylor has had any nervous system issues with the lower half of her body. Taylor says no.

"It's never affected anything like that other than my confidence," she says. "I've never had any problems."

Finally, Lee decides to order an MRI for Taylor and collect some medical records from her previous doctors. She holds off on any type of procedure, however.

"There is no way I can do this procedure today," Lee says. "In fact, I think it would be dangerous if I did this procedure today. You're not born with a lipoma unless there's something else going on."

Tests reveal that Taylor has fat inside her spinal cord

Taylor returns to Lee's office for her MRI results and gets shocking news. Lee explains that there is a deposit of fat inside Taylor's spinal cord — the bundle of nerves that connects the brain to the rest of the body.

In a behind-the-scenes blog post published on her website The Pretty Pimple, Lee offered a more detailed explanation of the condition. She wrote: 

"It was confirmed by the radiologist that this is a lipomeningocele. That's a fancy word for what is basically a little tiny strip of a lipoma inside her spinal canal. It's actually creating a tethered cord, meaning Taylor's spinal cord ... is being pushed to the side by this lipoma and is now stuck to the side of her spinal canal. The radiologist said it was an absolute miracle that she wasn’t showing any negative signs because of this… damage to your spinal cord in this area can create bowel and bladder problems, nerve function, even difficulty in walking… and all that could be permanent!"

On her blog, Lee also noted that Taylor's bump is a possible marker of spinal dysraphism. That's an umbrella term for different conditions in which the spine forms abnormally during an embyo's development, according to the Spine Hospital at the Neurological Institute of New York. 

Lee wrote that she's never seen a growth like this on an adult before because they're usually diagnosed when patients are very young.

"Hands down, without a doubt, this is something that should have really been caught by other doctors, well before Taylor saw me," Lee wrote.

In the episode, it's not made totally clear whether fat deposit inside Taylor's spine is actually connected to the bump on her butt — but that seems to be the implication. 

When Lee offers to remove some of the tissue on the bump to make it more aesthetically pleasing, she warns that the procedure could disrupt Taylor's spinal cord. 

"Remember now we know what this [bump] is connected to, and anything that causes trauma in this area could potentially damage your nerves that come out of your spinal cord," Lee says. 

Though it's a risky procedure, Lee removes some of the bump.

After speaking with her father on the phone, Taylor decides to move ahead with the procedure. Lee removes some excess skin and superficial fat with extreme caution.

"Even tugging on this lipoma in any way could potentially disrupt the growth within the spinal cord, and I don't want to do that in any way," Lee says. "By staying as superficial as possible I'm able to shape this well and make sure it looks good without really disrupting it."

Read more: Dr. Pimple Popper reveals the deeper meaning behind all her viral popping videos

When the removal is complete, Lee sews Taylor up with "two to three times" the normal amount of stitches to make sure the incision heals correctly. 

And even though the growth isn't totally removed, the difference is noticeable:

Taylor is "ecstatic" with her post-op results

In a follow-up interview, Taylor says she and her parents have decided to see a neurosurgeon to see if it's possible for her lipoma to be completely removed.

But even shrinking its size has impacted her life.

"I'm ecstatic about my results," Taylor says in the interview. "Since my surgery with Dr. Lee I feel more confident. When I lost a part of Lizzie, there was a lot lifted off my shoulders."

While you wait for the show's second season, you can all past episodes on TLC's website or through the TLCGo app. And check out a clip from the episode below:

For more great stories, head to INSIDER's homepage.

This post has been updated to include information published on Dr. Sandra Lee's blog, The Pretty Pimple.

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