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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Sinusitis / June 2007son has bone tumor of the shoulder
Anyone know anything about or have any experience with a bone tumor near the upper end of the upper arm bone. My 26 year old son wanted to muster out of the Navy and go back to collage, but when they were doing his separation physical they found this thing. He has had X-rays, bone scan, and an MRI. Said the bone scan showed the knob as a bright spot. He has no wasting or loss of appetite. He is 5' 9", cut, runs a mile in 5 to 7 and bench presses 430. > Anyone know anything about or have any experience with a bone tumor > near the upper end [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > He has no wasting or loss of appetite. > He is 5' 9", cut, runs a mile in 5 to 7 and bench presses 430. Surgery is Tuesday at Norfolk. Anything I should know? It depends on the pathology. The hot bone scan shows it's metabolically active--infections and growing lesions "light up". The surgery will give you the answers--then you can do the research to figure out the right course of treament. (From your description it's a lesion of the proximal humerus--the xrays and MRI should have given them some information--you'll see reactive changes in the anatomy of the bone that can give you some clues as to what this could be.) My thoughts are with you and your son. Hopefully his physicians have shared their information with him and you--what the pre-op diagnosis is, what the procedure is, and what they intend to do. He's an adult, but studies show that under stress, you process a tiny amount of information, so you need an advocate with you when communicating with the medical providers. Judy > > Anyone know anything about or have any experience with a bone tumor > > near the upper end [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Surgery is Tuesday at Norfolk. > Anything I should know? > It depends on the pathology. The hot bone scan shows it's > metabolically active--infections and growing lesions "light up". The [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > Surgery is Tuesday at Norfolk. > > Anything I should know? elizabeth, just wanted to add my best thoughts & wishes as well to you & your family. ellen > > It depends on the pathology. The hot bone scan shows it's > > metabolically active--infections and growing lesions "light up". The [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > ellen Thanks for the positive vibe Ellen. Need it right now. Judy: kinda problem is that he does not want me to give his doctors the third degree. No Kleg lights allowed. Says that i will piss them off and frighten them. In this case i don't have any better information than the doctors. This is an area where they are the experts. I really want to see the x-rays, MRI and bone scan, but not because I am going to take exception to his diagnosis. Elizabeth- Tough enough to be going through this sort of thing ourselves. Can't imagine how it must feel when a loved one is in a medical predicament. It's always a delicate balancing act between being an active partner in your (or a loved one's) medical care and downright pi$$ing the doctor off. I'm sure you'll strike the right balance. I, too, wish you the best of luck with your son. Sorry you both have to go through this, but--regardless of what it is--I'm glad that it was, at least, caught when it was. All the best, Neil > It depends on the pathology. The hot bone scan shows it's > metabolically active--infections and growing lesions "light up". The [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > them some information--you'll see reactive changes in the anatomy of > the bone that can give you some clues as to what this could be.) Right now, we don't even know if it's malignant. I certainly hope it's not malignant. Because most bone malignancies are actually metastases from primary tumors elsewhere. And that would mean he has had metastatic cancer for quite a while and didn't know it. Actually, the fact that he's so active (bench presses) puts him at increased risk for benign bone tumors at his age. That may be what this is.  SignatureSteven D. Litvintchouk Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. > Surgery is Tuesday at Norfolk. > Anything I should know? My thoughts and prayers will be with your son tomorrow. Please keep us updated on his progress. Becca > Anyone know anything about or have any experience with a bone tumor > near the upper end [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > He has no wasting or loss of appetite. > He is 5' 9", cut, runs a mile in 5 to 7 and bench presses 430. No experience with this, but hoping for the best news and outcome possible. Susan Elizabeth, It's a difficult thing to be a parent of an adult child who is facing a medical problem. My older daughter doesn't like confrontation, but she'll let me butt in. I always feel like if the questions come from the concerned family member, the patient can't be concerned about his/her physicians feeling like they're being difficult. Also, with all of your knowledge, you could be a tremendous resource. My parents also are very concerned about beiing "good patients" and not questioning their doctors: but they'll also let me be the bad guy. I find that I'm never openly confrontational, just concerned--as you should be. I let them know that I know something about medicine, and I'm worried and want to be informed. Only in the rare situation where someone has actually mistreated one of my children have I raised concerns, and then it was done after she had transferred care. So, as a reasonably worried mom, of a son who wants to be compliant and perceived as a good patient, I still think you can speak to the medical team and ask for information--it's appropriate, and your knowledge and advocacy help assure that your son gets the best possible treatment. No one is fighting here, just asking for information. I really hope this is nothing serious and will be resolved quickly. Tuesday probably can't come soon enough. Judy > x-no-archive: yes > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Susan > Elizabeth, > It's a difficult thing to be a parent of an adult child who is [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > > > Susan Thanks Neil. I have always gotten along with military docs. There fitness depends on your fitness, they don't usually just shine you off. It is so called University experts that ignore 7/8ths of the life there that I have had words with. Judy. As I understand it they can't do a biopsy because it is under so many muscle attachments. They are going to cut the thing out and replace it with a peice of bone taken from the hip or pelvis, and screw it all together with a plate to hold everything in place. Then reattach everything and hold realllll still for a couple of weeks. Then rehab for months. Since he is talking like that, it must mean that the thing has a well defined margin that they can see. Which is good. Also he is not showing the LEAST sign of wasting. My question is can they slice around it through good bone or do they have to grind it out? Wouldn't that liberate bits of tumor to go everywhere? Infection control is critical, which means I'll wear a mask to safeguard him from me just in case. I used cause roses, oranges and bread to mildew rapidly just by breathing on them. After treatment of me the time for bread to mold around me went from 3 days to 10 days, about adverage I think, but I would hate to be wrong. you can't be too careful. Elizabeth, You'd have to ask the surgeon for the details of how they do it. It actually sounds reassuring, an excision, repair and rehab. No talk of other therapies. I doubt you're a huge infection risk, good hand washing should be fine. The last time I "did" orthopedic surgery was a medical student, and that was a long time ago--I'd ask the surgeons about the details. Judy > > Elizabeth, > > It's a difficult thing to be a parent of an adult child who is [quoted text clipped - 69 lines] > I think, but I would hate to be wrong. > you can't be too careful. True: May I suggest you post all this on alt.support.cancer (as well as here, of course). Let's face it, that's what you are scared of. They are knowledgeable folks there and can help you. I assume you will know tomorrow whether it is malignant or benign. Correct?? Let us know too. Hopefully it is nothing serious. Mel >> Elizabeth, >> It's a difficult thing to be a parent of an adult child who is [quoted text clipped - 70 lines] > I think, but I would hate to be wrong. > you can't be too careful. > True: > [quoted text clipped - 84 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Thanks Judy, and for the concern Steve and Mel. Son's doc called me today. Said the thing is a periostial condroma? Is well defined and has a narrow margin, which is good. Evidently benign tumors sometimes form at the ends of the long bones. I ask how big a peice of bone they were going to cut out, picky finger size or thumb size? He said pinky finger and thumb put together. Then they will bolt on a plate and reattach the muscles. Sounds like the prognosis for complete recovery is good for this preticular type of tumor, Operation is at 6 AM. They will look at the tissue right away but we will not have full pathology for a couple of weeks? Evidently some of the lab work takes some time. Thanks for the well wishes. I'll let you know when I know. Elizabeth Elizabeth, to the best of my knowledge, this is a benign bone cyst, with the potential to grow and cause problems. I've known of adolescents who have had them in the knee. They scrape out the cyst lining, so it won't continue to expand, and replace the bone with fragments that should continue to generate bone. It sounds like he was fortunate to make a career change and have this thing found before it could grow any larger. Best wishes. Judy > > True: > [quoted text clipped - 108 lines] > > Elizabeth > > True: > [quoted text clipped - 108 lines] > > Elizabeth Just a couple of quick links I found ... hopefully to save you a bit of bother: http://bonetumor.org/tumors/pages/page44.html http://www.emedicine.com/orthoped/topic617.htm http://www.ejbjs.org/cgi/content/abstract/65/2/205 Looks like .... it could be much, much worse. Hope the surgery goes well. Take care of both of you ;-) Neil The key word is BENIGN. That is wonderful news and lets hope pathology confirms that Mel >> True: >> [quoted text clipped - 109 lines] > > Elizabeth > The key word is BENIGN. > [quoted text clipped - 119 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Thanks for all the postive thoughts vibes and prayers. Son is healing up remarkably fast. He is out of the hospital and walking around. He looks so strong and normal that with the bandage covered by his shirt, it is hard to remember he just had a hunk the size of a handball cut out of his upper arm. I saw the thing on x ray. It was on the humorus about an inch and a half from the upper end. There were 7 distinct lobes, spread out like a peacock's tail, or a sea fan a little over an inch high. If the thing was radially symetrical it was the size of a porcilin drawer pull. >From information that Augest sent to me, this kind of tumor grows on the surface and usually won't set up shop elsewhere, but they have to take out generous margin of healthy bond around it or it will grow back. So far, So good. Knock on wood. Pathology report due on the 18th. Elizabeth > > The key word is BENIGN. > [quoted text clipped - 144 lines] > > Elizabeth wow - glad the surgery was successful & that he is doing so well. been thinking about you & your family & wish you continued good news. good to have you back. peace, ellen |
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