In May of 2015, my husband Joe hurt his knee. Initially, we thought he strained it and it would feel better after rest and ice. It didn’t. Perhaps physical therapy would help. It didn’t. We thought the orthopedic surgeon would be able to diagnose what was causing the pain. Over the next year, Joe endured numerous labs, x-rays, CAT scans, MRIs, and needles to drain fluid. He didn’t have a Baker’s cyst. He didn’t have a tear in his meniscus. And still he had pain. His mobility was being more and more impacted by his knee. Ultimately in July of 2016, Joe had arthroscopic knee surgery on the front of his left knee. The surgeon cleaned out many pieces of calcified cartilage in Joe’s knee. Joe initially felt better. But soon after the surgery it was clear the surgery did not fix the problem or Joe’s pain and he began using crutches regularly. Finally, the orthopedic surgeon told us that he couldn’t do anything further for us and we should go back to Joe’s primary care physician (PCP). We did go back to his PCP who referred us to a rheumatologist.
The Journey Continues…and Ends with a Diagnosis of Cancer
At this point we were about 18 months into this ordeal. The rheumatologist ordered new x -rays. This doctor was the first to see the tumor that was growing behind Joe’s knee. He recommended going back to the orthopedic surgeon to remove the tumor. We went back to the surgeon who said he wouldn’t do the surgery and referred us to another orthopedic surgeon. We met this new surgeon. He also wouldn’t do the surgery, at least not until he knew exactly what the diagnosis was. Ultimately, we were referred to the head of Orthopedics for a large local teaching hospital. It was here, after another round of tests including a biopsy, and two years of seeking answers at almost all the health care systems in San Diego, we got the serious diagnosis of synovial chondromatosis turned synovial chondrosarcoma. Synovial chondrosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer, was in the cartilage of his left knee. The treatment – an above the knee amputation, which Joe had in May 2017.
