Peggy’s Story
I had been in pain all year. The pain sharply accelerated during August. Two different sports orthopedians diagnosed me with a likely torn meniscus. I had assumed my arthritis was getting worse. I had been trying to stabilize my knee with grocery store knee braces.
I was very active, running agility in classes and herding sheep in class and trial competion with my dogs. I loved to be outside in the garden and doing team activities with my dogs.
August 21 while rising from a sitting position I felt a pop in my hip. Combined with the ever increasing pain, foggy thinking and fatigue, I was frightened. We hurried to the ER. The triage nurse said my blood pressure was off the chart (sign of pain) and hurried me to the front of the line. The ER doctor ordered a CT scan. He explained he could see fractures more easily than in the set of x-rays I brought with me. …Read More
Marty’s Story
One morning as I was taking a shower I felt a knot on my back. That afternoon, I was told that there was a tumor on my 9th rib.
I never had any pain or discomfort. One morning as I was taking a shower I felt a knot on my back. I immediately called my family doctor and he suggested I have a CAT scan. That afternoon, I was told that there was a tumor on my 9th rib. At first the doctors here thought it was benign after needle biopsies. Then, during an aborted surgery, the surgeon knew it was something much different, took a larger biopsy, sent it to Mayo, and closed me back up.
Mayo returned the verdict, osteosarcoma, and within two weeks I was on my way to M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, where Dr. Wayne L. Hofstetter, a wonderful thoracic surgeon, removed the tumor and two ribs (8th and 9th) on the left side of my body. Dr. Raymond, a pathologist at M. D. Anderson upon receiving Mayo’s diagnosis, questioned if the tumor might not be a periosteal osteosarcoma as a result of the grade. He was correct. Once removed it was determined that it was periosteal osteosarcoma and it had invaded the bone marrow for 7mm. …Read More
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
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
Deborah’s Story
Periosteal osteosarcoma at the tibia
Age at Diagnosis: 20
Date of Diagnosis: 1993
I began having leg pain in 1992 when I was 20 years old. It was a strange pain that I would notice when I was pressing my foot on the accelerator in the car. I had a bone scan that showed a hot spot on my tibia. I was diagnosed with a “stress fracture” and ran around in a cast, a boot, and a leg brace for almost a year with no improvement. A tiny lump started to appear in my x-rays and my doctor felt it was probably new bone growing in to repair the fracture. The lump grew VERY rapidly and I was referred to an orthopaedic oncologist. …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
Cari’s Story
Osteosarcoma at the Proximal Tibia
Age at Diagnosis: 28
Year of Diagnosis: 2003
Location: California
Surgeon: Dr. Phil Wirganowicz, Oakland, CA
I actually knew I had a tumor in my leg, because when I was 12, I cracked it while I was running. The specialist at that time said that it was benign and not to worry about it, because something that is benign would not turn malignant; so life went on. In January of 2003, my shin and knee were extremely swollen and I began to have daily pain that would even wake me up at night, but being the stubborn person that I am, I didn’t actually go into the doctor and complain until June 2003. Eventually I was referred to a specialist who (in August) said the best thing to do was a biopsy so we know what we were dealing with. A week after the biopsy I was told it was Osteosarcoma. I was actually told on a Friday and by Monday I had an Oncologist, was in the hospital on Wednesday having a catheter placed in my chest and was to report on Monday morning for my first round of chemotherapy. The first day of chemo was September 19, 2004. WOW what a week! The initial tests done were an MRI, CT scan, Bone Scan and many different X-Rays. It all happened so fast – I actually don’t know how I handled it. …Read More
