Kent’s Story

Clear Cell Chondrosarcoma at the Proximal Femur
Age at Diagnosis: 40
Year of Diagnosis: 2004

Diagnosis: My ‘experience’ started over five years ago, I was extremely active in most sports including running, skiing, hiking and baseball. I first noticed my symptoms as pulled groin muscles that, when I checked with a doctor was told to rest for a couple weeks and slowly work up to your normal activities. I found that the occurrences became more aggressive and I would give the injury more time to heal and be less aggressive at my therapy. In July of 2004 the pain and frequency of my muscle pulls was keeping me from sleeping and I noticed deep muscle and tissue aches. I had stopped running for about a year and my exercise had become minimal for about a year. I’d visited a doctor several times, but now as I look back I didn’t let the doctor diagnose my injury I told him that I knew it was muscle pulls or tares. Finally it got to a point that I could only walk with a more than slight limp and went in for X-Rays. At the time I had switched jobs and was working as a contractor without insurance. After the first x-ray the doctor came in and told me I had a crack in my femoral neck, but that isn’t what I should be concerned with. The top of my femur looked like a ghost bone, and completely bulged out. I was put on crutches and given an appointment to see a specialist the following Monday (it was a Thursday when I went in). Over the weekend I was traversing some stairs with my new crutches and the crutch slipped of the stair and my full weight came down on my leg snapping my femur. I was rushed to the hospital and put in traction through the weekend. On Monday they went in and got a graph and inserted a ‘nail’ through my femur (not set) so I could be more comfortable. I was in the hospital for five days, on the fifth I found out it was cancer and I would need to have a partial femoral replacement.

Treatment: I found out that the type of cancer I had (Clear Cell Chondrosarcoma) was unresponsive to Radiation or Chemo and my only option was to have the affected area removed. Surgery was scheduled for the following week and everything went well. I was again in the hospital for another week and sent home. Two weeks later I was having severe pain and stuck it out till my follow-up two weeks later. It was found that I had a staff infection and needed immediate surgery to remove it. Another five days in the hospital and I was again sent home.

Recovery: This time I was able to begin recovery and was using a walker for about two months, moved to crutches for another three months then was able to start working again, I’m in the computer industry, luckily, so I didn’t need to do anything physically strenuous. After the crutches I went to a cane that was necessary for the next three months and now I use it on and off depending on what I’m doing. My upper thigh muscles and glut muscles where re-connected to the metal prosthesis and due to engineering needed to be placed a little differently than natural. I have a pronounced limp, but it’s slowly going away with increased muscle strength. I’m not sure when I can say I’ve recovered but I know there’s continual progress. I’ve been in to the specialist every three months without sign of recurrence.

Life Now: My life is becoming more normal all the time, I’ve had some issues not being able to do what I used to but taking things in small pieces has helped. My career is going great, I’m on permanent now with insurance and actually got some incredible help with my bills from the hospital. I’m mostly active again and have moved my activities into the pool. I spend a lot of time swimming and walking.

Thoughts and Hints for New Patients: The only way to put something like this behind is to know that life will always be changing and it’s our individual choice to live and be happy or let our trials dictate our happiness.