To help raise awareness she shares her story below.
I first started to suffer with a painful left arm in 2018. I visited my GP on several occasions, and each time I was just given pain medication and was more or less dismissed. The pain started to intensify in the early part of 2020 just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
I had an accident at home and fell onto my left arm, shattering my left humerus. There was a loud crack, so I knew I had done something bad! I also couldn't move, and the ambulance was sent for.
I was taken to my local hospital in York and had an X-ray, CT scan and MRI scan and was in so much pain that painkillers were not helping. I was fitted with a temporary plaster cast, which did not help, and so it was removed and replaced with a splint. This caused blisters under my arm, so that too had to be removed. I was discharged with a collar and 'cuff splint' and was told I would probably hear from the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (ROH) in Birmingham. At no point was bone cancer mentioned.
I received a letter a little later and was asked to go to the ROH in Birmingham for a biopsy. It was only at this stage that I realised I had cancer as the letter was from the orthopaedic oncology department.
Whilst I was filling out the paperwork at ROH, I was asked to go in and see a consultant. He told me that he and his team had discussed my case and, after looking at the X-ray, decided that it was a classic case of chondrosarcoma. The whole bone was affected and needed to be operated on as soon as possible.
I was asked to go back on December 20th 2020 to have the operation, during which the whole of the humerus was removed and replaced with a titanium prosthesis. I also had my rotator cuff muscles removed. My lymph nodes were left but I was told they were 'reactive.' Fortunately, I did not have to have chemotherapy or radiotherapy as part of my treatment.
I was diagnosed with dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma, but fortunately, I did not need to have chemotherapy or radiotherapy as part of my treatment. Chemotherapy was discussed but I was told as my whole bone was removed during surgery it was unlikely I would need it. I have regular scans and X-rays to make sure it hasn't spread to my lungs.
I continue to have my physiotherapy at St James' Hospital in Leeds on more or less a monthly basis and they have been fantastic. They have supported me, and I now have movement in my arm. It's restricted movement, but I am doing more and more all the time.
My diagnosis and surgery have changed my life, in that I now have restricted movement in my left arm. I struggle to do a lot, but I am stubborn enough to keep going.
My husband has been amazing in his support for me, as have my family and friends. I don't want to let anyone down.
I would say keep going to other patients. Yes, it is painful, but at least you are alive. I still have my arm and can use it. I have my down days and night terrors, the 'what ifs' and 'maybes', but I am still here. Don't concentrate on what you can't do, concentrate on the positives and what you can do.
I don't know if an earlier diagnosis would have resulted in a partial bone replacement, but it would have been worth finding out and would have saved me years of worrying why my arm was so painful and what I was suffering from.
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