Surviving Sarcoma

In July 2011, I was diagnosed with Spindle Cell Sarcoma. It began with a small tumor in my left shin, which was biopsied and returned positive as a Hemangioma. The tumors continued to grown on my leg (going downward) and toes. After having two tumors biopsied, they came back (+) for Spindle Cell Sarcoma. Because there were too many tumors on the leg, surgical removal of the tumors and chemotherapy were no longer an option. The cancer was beginning to travel upward, and the threat of it affecting vital organs was imminent.

After careful consultation, we decided that the best option was to have the leg amputated above the knee. If my writing seems a bit simplistic, it is because I had the time to think about the amputation, and what my life would be if we had left the cancer in its place and kept trying different methods of eradicating it. As one of my doctors put it, Between life and limb, I choose life!" This phrase carried me throughout my journey with cancer.

On November 17, 2011, the left leg was successfully amputated, and my new life began. I had prepared for many of the adjustments that I would have to endure, and am still getting used to life without my leg, recapturing many aspects of my life that would usually require two legs. I have been fitted with a prosthesis, and am pretty much independent at home. But the journey is far from over. I must be vigilant of any little change in my body in the hopes that this cancer has been defeated once and for all.