Dick’s Story

Chondrosarcoma at the scapula
Date of Diagnosis: June 2008
Age at Diagnosis: 43
Location: South Carolina
Surgeon: Dr. Bryan Moon

Diagnosis: I hurt my shoulder in the spring of 2006 playing basketball with my daughter. I went to the orthopedic surgeon, as I figured it was either a shoulder separation or rotator cuff problem. The doctor took x-rays, and said he thought it was shoulder instability, or weakened muscles from years of overuse playing baseball and volleyball. He prescribed several weeks of physical therapy that seemed to help for the rest of that year. I mentioned this to my family physician during my annual physical, and said that as long as I could handle the pain, that surgery should be avoided. He knew from personal experience that shoulder surgery was difficult and the rehabilitation was quite painful. Read more

Laura’s Story

Ewing’s Sarcoma at the Scapula
Age at Diagnosis: 21
Year of Diagnosis: 1983

Diagnosis: Almost 1 year before diagnosis, I had pain in my left sholder (scapula). Eventually went to an orthopedic specialist who said it was bursitis. Had 2 cortizone shots. Didn’t go away. I was in my first trimester of pregnancy. Doctors continued to say bursitis. Seven weeks from due date, I went to family doctor asking if there was anyting else I could take for pain besides Tylenol. Well, to make a long story short, I had x-rays and biopsy locally. Doctors said it was cancer but didn’t know what kind. They sent me to Mayo Clinic. (Pregnancy complicated things!). On 2/14/83, I was diagnosed with Ewings sarcoma (I was 21 years old). On 2/16/83 my son was born at Rochester Methodist Hospital in Minnesota. He was induced; 4 lbs. 1 oz. Healthy, just needed some fat on him. On 2/17/83, I had scans and bone marrow biopsy. On 2/18/83 I started my first chemo treatment. On 2/21/83, we headed home! This is a short version of a long story! Read more

Max’s Story

Chondrosarcoma at the Scapula
Age at Diagnosis: 43
Date of Diagnosis: May 2001
Location: California

Diagnosis: In 1994, while lifting weights, I thought I had torn something in my right shoulder. I was sent for x-rays and the report indicated the results as “normal”. The diagnosis was a tear in the rotor cuff. The shoulder continued to give me problems during the next 7 years. Any time I had it looked at again, I was sent back to physical therapy, same diagnosis and no further x-rays or MRI’s were done. I finally decided to get it taken care of once and for all in March 2001. New x-rays were ordered and this time results came back as fibrous dysplacia of the scapula. More PT for about a month. No improvement so I was referred to an orthopedic surgeon. He saw a problem with the x-rays right away and said I had a lesion on my scapula. He also viewed the x-rays from 7 years earlier and indicated the lesion could be seen on those x-rays. He ordered a CT scan and the preliminary diagnosis from that was chondrosarcoma. I was referred to Dr. James Johnston, orthopedic oncologist at UCSF and he agreed with the diagnosis as chondrosarcoma, probably grade I. A biopsy confirmed malignancy and an MRI showed the size of the tumor at 10″. Read more