Kristin’s Story

When I was in 6th grade I was doing competitive dance and played soccer. I had bad pain in my left knee so my mother took me to the doctor. She said I was overly active and to take a break for 6 weeks. So I did. When the pain came back again the doctor told me to wear a knee brace while doing sports. That helped a little but not much. The pain would come and go, so I ignored it because so did the doctor. In 8th grade- 1996 I was on the high school track team, still dancing and playing soccer the pain in my knee was bad but I was not willing to give any of those up.

That summer I went to sleep over camp. I feel and hit my knee on a rock- no big deal until I got a bump that wouldn’t go away. I had my physical the week after I got home so I mentioned it to our NEW pediatrician. She felt it and kept her hand on it while talking to us. She sent me for an X-ray that day (a Wed), and that night I went to my friends summer home. The doctor called my mom the next day and said I needed an MRI and it needed to be done Friday. I had it done and we received a phone call around 7pm that night saying there was something on the MRI and whatever it was needed to be checked. Read more

Lori’s Story

In May of 2000, everything I thought I knew about my life changed.  I had just come home from a trip to New York to visit my grandparents.  It was a very normal day, and while showering I noticed a pain in my right kidney area.  Great, I thought, I’ve got a kidney infection.  I went to my GYN as he was my closest physician and the easiest place to get a urine test done.  There was no infection, as it turned out, but I did have blood in my urine for no reason.  He admitted me to run some tests.

He scanned, x-rayed, scoped…you name it, he did it.  On the very last day, he opted to run a bone scan to see if he could pinpoint the reason for my now phantom (as in gone) pain.  During the bone scan, my tumor was found.  Of course the x-ray tech couldn’t tell me that; she simply told me to get it checked as it wasn’t normal.  As a side note…no cause was ever found for the original kidney pain. Read more

Marcy’s Story

Parosteal osteosarcoma at the distal femur
Age at Diagnosis: 37
Date of Diagnosis: August 2006
Location: Nebraska
Surgeon: Sean McGarry at UNMC

Diagnosis: I first saw my family physician in August feeling soreness around my right knee. He determined I had most likely torn a muscle running and said to take some Advil for a couple of weeks. I was never in a lot of pain, but my knee began to swell and I thought I had better take it seriously. I asked my Dr. to send me off for an MRI. Within a few days I was told they believed I had low grade osteosarcoma. I had never heard of bone cancer before. Read more

Charlene’s Story

Osteosarcoma at the Distal Femur
Age at Diagnosis: 25
Year of Diagnosis: 1996
Location: New York State
Surgeon: Dr. Dempsey Springfield (now practicing in Boston)

Diagnosis: I was diagnosed on May 22, 1996 at the age of 25 with osteogenic sarcoma of my right distal femur. My diagnosis came 2 days after a bone biopsy. My story goes like this:

In the summer of 1993, with visiting family in CA, a sudden sharp pain overcame me along the back of my right knee/thigh area. The pain came and went so I didn’t think much of it. Thought maybe just a strain or stepped wrong. Upon returning home the pain worsened and I figured better safe than sorry so I went to see an orthopedic specialist. After visiting 2-3 different orthopedic doctors a small bone tumor was revealed through x-ray and then confirmed by an MRI in April 1994. At the time it was felt to be a benign non-ossifying fibroma. Read more

Katie’s Story

Osteosarcoma at the distal femur
Age at Diagnosis: 21
Date of Diagnosis: February 2007
Location: Near Halifax, United Kingdom
Hospital: St. James University Hospital
Team: Dr Dan Stark, Dr Tillman and Dr. Grimer

Diagnosis: I had been having pain in my knee for 4 – 5 years. I went to my GP for the first time about my knee in January 2004 and he referred me directly to physio without doing any tests or x-rays. I tried that physio for about a year but due to moving house and the exercises not doing a thing I gave up. The pain was still getting worse so yet again I went to my GP who again referred me to physio in August 2005 (yet again without any tests) and was told basically to do the same exercises, which I stuck at for another year but again gave up due to moving house and stuff, plus it was still getting worse not better. Over Christmas 2006 it was getting worse, I could hardly bend it, was very swollen and extremely painful. I went back to my GP who I told I needed this sorting and he agreed to do blood tests to see which department to refer me to at the hospital. Read more

Sally’s Story

Osteosarcoma at the distal femur
Age at Diagnosis: 27
Date of Diagnosis: 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Hospital: Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham

Diagnosis: I first started with knee pain in October 2004, but my GP put it down to a strain even though I couldn’t remember falling or injuring myself. The pain got gradually worse, and I was waking in the night feeling as though my leg was on fire. My knee was hot, red and swollen. I kept going back to my GP but he kept giving me painkillers and telling me to come back in two weeks. Eventually I insisted on being referred to a specialist and had an X-ray at the hospital in February 2005. The X-ray showed “something suspicious” and I was referred to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham for a biopsy, chest CT and bone scan. I was finally diagnosed with osteosarcoma in March 2005. Read more

Astrid’s Story

Ewing’s sarcoma at the distal femur
Age at Diagnosis: 44
Date of Diagnosis: 1989
Location: Norway
Hospital: Haukeland Sykehus

Diagnosis: I experienced pain in my femur while sitting on a sofa with my feet outstretched and my son on my lap, so I removed him and ran my hand over the place. I could feel a lump. When I bent my knee it was not so obvious. I had also had pain around my knee when lifting something heavy and walking downhill. So after a few days I saw a doctor and was sent for emergency x-ray on the 15th of September. I was very impressed how quickly it went. Unfortunately everything stopped up for some reason or misunderstanding which I don’t know, and I had to wait for many weeks before the next x-ray. I was a bit desperate and felt myself falling freely. (I am sorry, my English is not good enough). I kept calling the doctor because he thought I would be admitted within a couple of days. Nobody believed it could have been anything serious, but I knew because I had seen the pictures through a partly open door. Anyway I was admitted to the hospital 3rd of November for a lot of tests, and had to wait some weeks for the results. Eventually I started chemo in the middle of December. Read more

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