Aaron’s Story

Chondrosarcoma at the proximal femur
Age at Diagnosis: 20
Date of Diagnosis: 1990
Location: Idaho

Diagnosis: I was 19 years old when I was playing soccer. I was running down the field and I heard a snap and then sharp pain coming from my second toe on my right foot. My toe just broke!

I went to a doctor who did an x-ray and said that something was wrong with my bone, it was as thin as an egg shell. He sent me to a specialist who had me go through a bone scan. There they found a sizable tumor in my right proximal femur.

Treatment: I went to surgery in September of 1990 where they removed the bone in my toe and replaced it with a cadaver bone. They curretaged my femur and sent me on to PT. My diagnosis was Encondroma. A benign cartilaginous tumor.

In 1997 I began to experience pain in my femur. I had to put my wallet in my left pocket instead of my right. It hurt to sit or sleep and I began to be concerned. When I went to have it checked in Feb 1998, I was referred to an orthopedic oncologist in Salt Lake City. After a biopsy, the doctor diagnosed me with a G2 chondrosarcoma. He curretaged the femur and reconstructed it with bone grafts from my iliac. He placed a large screw that went in at the proximal femur and extended into the ball. A plate was inserted that ran down the side of the femur and secured with screws. In October 1999 I had the hardware removed due to excessive pain and irritation.

Life Now: In January 2008 a new tumor was identified in the ball of my right femur. It is in a difficult place to perform a biopsy and so no diagnosis has been handed down. I am in pain. It hurts to sit, sleep be active and live. I am scared that I may have to lose my bone to a prosthetic. I am 38. I have lived with bone tumors and the pain associated with it for almost 20 years now.

Thoughts and Hints for Patients: You never know what life is going to hand you. There is no time to harbor ill feelings towards your family and friends. Mend your relationships and be an example of strength and courage for them. I see that me having this bone tumor problem is a lot harder on my wife and kids than it is on me. Do your part to support them during this difficult time.

Allow them to help and be a part of your struggle. Be loving and kind and forget about yourself as much as you can. It is a tough road, but there are so many beautiful things you see in others and how they show their love to you that it makes the experience worth going through. You also truly discover who your friends are when you hit rock bottom.

Best of luck,
Aaron