For the past five years or so, I've been feeling a lot of discomfort in my right thigh when I would do things that involved sitting for long periods of time like driving or going to the movies. Eventually, it got to the point where just sitting in class for 50 minutes would give me a lot of discomfort. In the past couple years, it started hurting on long walks and hikes. In the past few months, it just started hurting all the time.
Through most of this I was going to chiropractors and I guess everybody was under the assumption that I just had some kind of muscle problem associated with my crooked hips. After my leg pain was driving me crazy during the Canada Field trip last semester, I finally decided to start seeing a chiropractor near the school. After about three different chiropractors at that office were puzzled by my condition, they sent me off to a clinic to get an X-ray done.
"Sup bro, I'm just hangin' out on your leg, don't mind me."
So yeah, that's an Osteochondroma (fancy word for bone tumor). It's growing on the neck of my femur bone which is that skinny part of your femur near where it connects to the hip. See below.
Current Events:
About a week ago, I sent my X-rays and related reports down to my mom who took them to an orthopedic surgeon at MD Anderson. The ortho surgeon was not too concerned that it could be cancerous but still thought I should have scans done to see what all was going on. The area in which my tumor is growing happens to contain a lot of nerve endings and major arteries so there was some concern for that reason. So they asked that I fly home to Houston to have tests done at MD Anderson and talk with the surgeon myself.
Last week I had more X-rays and a CT scan done for the surgeon to look at to confirm that it was indeed an osteochondroma.
GLT
It was a long day and I had to wear hospital clothes
and wait around with sad looking old people.
I was also supposed to do an MRI that day but because of the cramped quarters of the MRI machine and the need to lay flat and still for an hour, my leg freaked out on me and I had to stop the MRI because of the leg pain. I'm scheduled to redo the MRI on Friday under sedation.
"You might wake up with a headache..."
Today however, I spoke with the surgeon and he reassured that this tumor is an osteochondroma and likely benign but they will still send it off to be tested afterwards anyway.
Surgery:
In 8 days (next Tuesday) I'll be having my surgery done by Dr. Lin (He's considered the one of the best orthopedic surgeons). He is "very meticulous" and this is will be a delicate surgery due to the major arteries and nerves near the tumor so it will take quite a while, supposedly around 8 hours. They will remove the whole tumor after moving a bunch of my muscles and stuff out of the way. The removal of the tumor will leave that skinny part of my femur weakened, requiring that part of my bone to be reinforced by metal.
Basic concept.
After the whole surgery thing is over and I'm stitched back up, I'll spend about a week in the hospital. Now I've never spent any time in a hospital so I'm not exactly sure what to expect. However, Pokemon Black and White comes out two days prior to surgery so you can bet that I won't be doing much else besides that. Feel free to come visit me though if you're around. After my hospital vacation, I spend the next couple months at home limping around and writing research papers.
What Else?:
Well, it's nice to know that I most likely don't have cancer and that I get to keep my leg. I do hate leaving school so early in the semester, missing out on field trips and having to make up research and lab work this summer. Obviously I miss everybody up in Illinois very badly and I feel like I'm missing out on some awesome geology fun. At least there are some benefits to being in Houston though:
Bonus!:
MD Anderson also had me get a chest X-ray done for no reason I can think of other than just the fact that they look cool:
Man Lungs
Awesome
