I thought my leg ached from walking too much but doctors asked me a chilling question and uncovered the sinister truth

The Irish Sun

6 days ago

WAKING up in the night in pain, Megan Skalska blamed her aches on walking too much.
At the age of just 23, she was fit and healthy and had no reason to suspect anything sinister.
8
Megan Skalska blamed the ache in her leg on walking too much… but the truth was much more sinister
Credit: Cover Images
8
After an MRI scan, a CT scan, another X-ray and lots of blood tests, Megan's mind was initially put at ease - before doctors said there had been a 'malignant transformation'
Credit: Cover Images
The first signs that something was wrong came in October last year.
But soon after the 'bone deep' pains began to disturb her
sleep
, Megan noticed a lump on the left side of her hip.
'At first I just thought it was a swelling,' she says. 'But I decided it would be best to get it checked.'
It was a decision that could prove to save her life.
She went straight to hospital where she had an X-ray and was sent home in the early hours of the morning.
Later that day, at about 7am she received the phone call that would change her life, forever.
'The first question they asked me was: 'Do you have any cancer in the family?'' Megan tells Sun
Health
.
'That's when I knew that something wasn't right, especially because they got back to me so quickly.'
After an MRI scan, a CT scan, another X-ray and lots of blood tests, Megan's mind was put at ease when medics told her the lump was a benign tumour.
But her relief soon disappeared and was replaced by panic, when it emerged that doctors feared the tumour had a 'malignant transformation'.
Video explaining the different types of bone cancer, symptoms and treatments
Megan, from Sittingbourne in
Kent
, was sent for a consultation at the specialist Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore.
She was told that doctors suspected the tumour was cancerous, but that they wouldn't know until they'd conducted a biopsy.
'By that point, everything felt surreal,' she says. 'It was inexplicable; I thought everything was against me.
'The doctor prepared me for the worst, but my doctor was really positive, which helped.'
Megan then faced an anxious wait for surgery.
Experts made a custom tool to remove the tumour - but by the time the operation took place, the mass had grown so much that it couldn't be used.
The surgery on January 28 was long and complicated - and involved surgeons removing half of Megan's hip, but it was a success.
'At first, I was supposed to have a small operation, which would have only had a four-week-long recovery,' she says.
8
The surgery on January 28 was long and complicated - and involved surgeons removing half of Megan's hip
Credit: Cover Images
8
Aside from facing her cancer diagnosis, Megan was also haunted by a fear that her leg would have to be amputated
Credit: Cover Images
8
Despite having to learn to walk again, Megan started a new marketing job one week after surgery
Credit: Cover Images
'But on the day of my operation, I found out that they just kind of went in and removed everything as they probably suspected the cancer was already there.
'The tumour was just growing so quickly at that point.'
Being in hospital was harder than Megan thought it would be.
She woke from the anaesthetic full of tubes and her recovery was exhausting and long.
SURVIVAL MODE
'I thought I'd be in the hospital for three days max, but I ended up being in hospital for three weeks, and I had an epidural in my back for the first week, so I couldn't feel anything from the waist down and couldn't even move my toe, which was pretty scary,' she says.
'Even just sitting up in bed was really difficult.
'Luckily my mum Jo was by my side constantly, which really helped. And the nurses were super supportive in getting me everything I needed.'
On Valentine's Day Megan was finally told she had stage 1 chondrosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer. Initially she felt numb.
'I thought that my mental health would really suffer throughout the cancer diagnosis,' she says.
'But oddly, I think the
survivor
mode just kicked in, and I persevered.
'I just thought there's no point in me asking, 'Why has this happened to me?'
8
Bone cancers can cause five subtle symptoms
'I had to keep positive because being sad wasn't going to change anything. So I just kind of stayed strong through it all.'
Before her diagnosis, Megan says she was a 'lot more emotional" and would 'cry over nothing at all'.
Going through this has totally given me a new perspective on life. I worry less about the small things
Megan
But with her cancer diagnosis came a sense of perspective, she tells Sun Health.
'I think it made me realise that my worries previously weren't real worries at all,' she adds.
'I wanted to stay strong for my family and friends, as well as myself.
'It could've been a lot worse.'
Aside from facing her cancer diagnosis, Megan was also haunted by a fear that her
'I Googled chondrosarcoma and just saw lots of girls having their legs amputated,' she says.
'That was really scary and I was having panic attacks. It's frightening to think about losing part of your body.'
Three days after her diagnosis Megan was able to go home without any further treatment.
Despite having to learn to walk again, eager to move on from the traumatic illness and in desperate need of distraction, she started a new marketing job one week after surgery.
8
As soon as she was given the green light from her doctors, she grabbed her crutches and booked holidays
Credit: Cover Images
8
Megan has a 30% chance of the cancer returning
Credit: Cover Images
'Going through this has totally given me a new perspective on life,' she says. 'I worry less about the small things.
'I now realise I didn't really have any problems until I had health problems.
'It was really scary looking at survival rates and the percentage chances of the cancer coming back.'
Megan has been told that she has a 30 per cent chance of her cancer coming back.
But rather than focus on that statistic, the 23-year-old is holding on to the fact it means there is a 70 per cent chance it won't.
As soon as she was given the green light from her doctors, she grabbed her crutches and booked
holidays
to Barcelona and
Morocco
.
And tomorrow she will hold a fundraiser to raise
money
for the
Reflecting on her ordeal, Megan says she is so grateful she went to A&E when she did, and she wants to encourage others to go straight to the doctor if they fear something is wrong.
'There's no point waiting – if I had waited, I could have lost my leg or even my life.' she says. 'If your body doesn't feel right, get it checked.
Who's most at risk of bone cancer?
There has been a lot of research into the causes of bone cancers but, like most childhood cancers, a definite cause is unknown.
But it is important to remember that nothing you have done has caused your child's cancer.
Children who have hereditary retinoblastoma - a rare tumour of the eye - may have an increased risk of developing osteosarcoma.
Children who have previously had radiotherapy and chemotherapy also have an increased risk of developing osteosarcoma.
It's not caused by injuries or damage to the bone, although an injury may draw attention to a bone tumour.
The development of Ewing sarcoma may be related in some way to times of rapid bone growth, which may explain why more cases are seen in teenagers.
Source:
'It's just so important not to let doctors and your GP turn you away because you're young, because when something's not right, it's not right.
'You never think it's going to happen to you, but just because you're young, that doesn't mean you're immune.
'I am worried about it coming back. But I'm just super grateful to even have that fear.
'Because so many cancer patients don't have the positive outcome that I had.
'I'm still in physio and I have a huge scar on my hip, but I've just kind of accepted that.
'It's nothing to be embarrassed about and I was happy to wear my bikini in Barcelona and not give it another thought.
'It shows me who I am, what I've been through, and how strong I am. I'm still here, and that's something to appreciate.
'I appreciate everything these days.'