Diagnosis & Treatment: I am an LPN working in a nursing home. In December 2008 I started pushing my med cart and noticed sharp pains in my arm. I knew that this was not normal so I went to the ER when I got off work. The ER doctor repeatedly asked me if I had fallen, twisted, or injured my arm. I kept telling him that I had not. He would not x-ray my arm at this time. He told me that is was a sprain and gave me Ultram and a splint to wear for 3 days. Before the 3 days were up my arm had started hurting worse and Ultram was doing absolutely nothing for the pain.

At the beginning of January I went to my family physician and he x-rayed my arm. Of course something showed up but my doctor wasn’t sure (or wouldn’t say) what it was so he ordered an MRI. At this point no one would tell me what was wrong and I had become very upset. After the results of my MRI came back my doctor called and said that I needed to see an orthopedic doctor because something showed up on my MRI and it was 4cm long and 1.5cm wide. The orthopedic doctor is the one who finally told me that it was a bone tumor but said that he was not qualified to take care of it so he sent me to UAB in Alabama. My appoint was Feb. 9th, and the bone tumor was removed on Feb. 10. It was a grade II chondrosarcoma.

Life Now: I am now in therapy because I was not able to pick up, or squeeze, or use my arm for anything. My next appoint is May 15th. This was all very disturbing to me because there was no history of cancer in my family. My husband and mother have been very supportive through this terrifying time in my life. I put it all in GODS hands and pray daily that it does not come back.

Diagnosis: I first saw an orthopedist in October 2003 after bumping my arm on a door frame. I noticed the next day there was some swelling and a lot of pain. After an x-ray, there was some sort of tumor in my distal radius (right above the wrist on the right arm) and was scheduled for a biopsy. That biopsy came back as necrotic marrow, negative for malignancy. Little did I know that three years later the biopsy was not done correctly and they only scratched the surface.

Well, in the summer of 2007, my arm looked like someone had slid an egg under my skin, and trying to squeeze things became almost impossible. After seeing the doctor I work for, he ordered an x-ray and it looked like someone had taken a bite out of bone. Part of the bone was more than half gone. After gathering my medical records and sending them to an orthopedist in South Bend, it was determined that I needed to see an orthopedic oncologist at IU Med Center. He saw me, told me that he suspected it was cancer, but hoping for a slow one since it had been there for three years.

An MRI and a biopsy later it was determined that I have Ewing’s sarcoma. That diagnosis scared me. I had a step uncle who lost his life to Ewing’s and I wasn’t ready to leave my family and two small kids. One week after the biopsy, I met my oncologist and was scheduled for my first round of chemotherapy four days later.

Treatment: The first day of chemo lasted about two hours and consisted of Cytoxen, Adriamycin, and Vincristin. Then 14 days later I was in the hospital for five days receiving Etoposide and Ifosfamide. After two of those cycles, the tumor wasn’t responding as well, so I was then admitted to the hospital for another five days receiving Etoposide, Ifosfamide, and Platinol every nine days. I did that treatment for a little over a month and was then scheduled for surgery. The surgery I had consisted of taking out my radius, from my wrist to about three inches below my elbow and once they got in there, they discovered the tumor was not only on my radius, but also my humerus. Both bones were then taken out and replaced with part of my fibula and a metal plate, called a radical resection with wrist fusion.

Recovery: My recovery from chemo, after the Adriamycin, Vincristin, and Cytoxen, took about three days for the fatigue to wear off and luckily I was only nauseated a couple of times throughout all the chemo. After having the Platinol, Ifosfamide, and Etoposide that took me a lot longer to bounce back. There was usually a day or two before I had my next treatment. The surgery has been a lot harder to recover from, a lot slower pace. After having my right leg and right arm cut on, it is taking a while to get back to normal. My surgery was Feb. 4, 2008 and I officially was in remission on Valentine’s Day 2008 because the tumor was 100% dead.

Life Now: My life has not changed much. I don’t have the use of my right wrist, and I have some movement issues with my thumb, but I’m adapting quite well. I’m looking forward to riding horses again, swimming with my kids and walking my son to school when he starts kindergarten in the fall. We’re going to Florida, and I still can play baseball with my son and push my daughter on her swing. Life is good.

Thoughts and Hints for Patients: I heard the most interesting stories from people. Yes I had those “weird lady with no hair looks”, but I never let my smile leave my face. I learned not to cancer define me, but I defined it. I didn’t change my life. I took my son to preschool when I could, and days that I was too tired, I leaned on my family and my faith in God. I had total confidence in my doctors and God. Find someone to lean on, confide in, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Journaling my thoughts helped a lot too as well as keeping a blog on myspace. I tried and am still trying to reach as many people as I can to educate them about Ewing’s and let others who have or had cancer that they can make it through and never give up the fight.

Diagnosis: I first went to my family doctor in August of 1976. At that time I thought I had broken the arm. The doctor took one look at the x-ray and sent me to the cancer clinic. I was at the clinic on a Monday and had my first operation of many that Friday. At the time thought it was no big deal. Let’s just get on with curing it.

Treatment: The first four or five operations they removed the tumor and packed the hole with bone chips from my hip. That didn’t work. The next operation was to fuse my left wrist since it had become unstable. After the wrist had healed they removed a bone from my leg and replaced the radius. Then I started on my chemotherapy rounds. Took chemo for a year. My chemo treatment would last for seven days. Sorry but never did know what kind of
chemo I was given.

Recovery and Metastasis: I never had physio. I had to go back to school to learn a new trade. I had a recurrence in 1993 when I was 40. They amputated the lower part of the left arm at that time.

Life Now: My life at the moment is not to bad overall.

Thoughts and Hints for New Patients: Do research, ask questions, listen to what they are saying to you and keep a positive attitude.