Osteo

Osteosarcoma:

Osteogenic Sarcoma (osteosarcoma) is a bone forming cancer. It is the most frequent type of bone tumor and is most common between the ages of 15 to 25. Over 90% of tumors are located in the metaphysis (the growing ends of the bone), the most common sites are the bones around the knee which account for 80% of cases. Osteosarcomas vary greatly in radiological and pathological features and therefore needs careful diagnosis to differentiate this from other bone tumors. Most are high grade intramedullary osteosarcomas, about 5% are low grade lesions, some are secondary osteosarcomas (for example those caused by radiation therapy). Basically it is a cancer or growth found inside the bone. In my case it was found just above the right knee. My protocol included chemotherapy with surgery sandwiched inbetween the chemo sessions. Some of the chemotherapy that I had was High Dose Methatrexate, Cisplatin, Adriamyacin, and Ifosfamide. The end result was the removal of the top portion of the bone and also the knee. I am now the owner of a titanium rod and a new knee. The only thing that is mine is the knee cap. I have a fairly long battle scar from the surgery but was fortunate enough to still have my own leg.

This picture is from the bone scan. It shows the cancer that is just above my right knee. It's the large dark mass. We found out when we went in for the scan that lots of places can show up as "hot spots". These spots all looked dark to us. It looked like there was cancer all over to my mom. Especially once they saw the spot above my knee. They were told that any place that is sharp will show up as a "hot spot", such as the elbows, shoulders, and hips. The bone scan is not one of the funnest things to do. You have to have an injection of stuff that is heavy and will deposit in spots on your bones, than you have to lie perfectly still while this machine goes over every inch of your body. It seems to take forever. Usually it takes about an hour. I now have these scans done every 6 months along with a Cat Scan, Chest X-rays,& the dreaded blood work. When I had my surgery they removed the femur and my knee,(everything except the knee cap). They replaced it with a titanium rod and a new knee joint. Now I can make the metal detector go off in some airports. One of the downsides to the surgery was that I am no longer able to do some sports, like softball. I am not supposed to put to much heavy stress on the leg or it might break the rod. Which would not be as easy to fix as a broken leg