Well, where to start?
My wife, Lorraine, for a year or so has felt a twinge in her right arm which she/we thought was a pulled ligament or a trapped nerve. Back in April, while abroad she lunged forwards to stop a hair mousse canister from hitting the tiled floor while doing her hair. That movement of her right arm caused the most extreme pain in her upper part of her arm. She was reduced to tears. Not knowing what was wrong I shot down to a local farmacia and got her a sling thinking it might provide some comfort to immobilise it until be returned to the UK. The intensity of the pain settled a little but maintained its severity.
Upon our return home she contacted her local GP surgery and spoke by phone to a locum GP. He sent through some light exercises for her to do suggesting that it might be a torn ligament or muscle. She could not do the exercises and so called again. This time she was referred to a local physiotherapy unit. The physiotherapist examined Lorraine and tried to manipulate her arm and came to the conclusion that it was something called a frozen shoulder. After a couple of sessions it was apparent that the situation was not improving and I suggested that we needed a scan or at least an xray. After a couple of phone calls to Lorraine's GP surgery it was agreed to refer her for an xray. A week later we had an appointment with an orthopaedic consultant. He examined Lorraine's arm and straight away arranged for an xray there and then. Xray taken and the radiologist asked Lorraine if she had recently broken the arm, then immediately back with the consultant and he asked the same question. We looked at each other and replied in the negative, but explained about the episode in April. The consultant acknowledged that and said that he was not happy with the look of the xray and that we'll have an MRI scan urgently. A few days later the appointment for the MRI came through and off we trotted. Scan done and in the meantime another appointment with the consultant was notified to us, for a few days later. Hey ho, back with the consultant to review the MRI. Not good says he. There is a large white mass inside the humerus bone which could be either a collection of cysts or 'something nasty'. He'll send the images back to the imaging centre to enhance them. Another appointment with him is scheduled for two weeks hence.
Three days later the phone rings and it is the consultant for Lorraine. As she speaks with her I see her body begin to wilt, her face go ashen and she began to tremble. She then asked the caller to repeat all that he had said to her, to me. I listened intently as fear welled up inside me. He informed us that the mass inside the bone was cancer. He could not at that stage tell us much more but assured as that matters would move on at speed. Within an hour Lorraine was called to attend her GP's surgery later that afternoon for extensive blood tests. That done she had a text message with an appointment for a CT scan which is to take place this Saturday.
As you will gather we are at the very earliest stage of this new, and unwelcome stage in our lives. We are trying hard to apply logic to Lorraine's circumstances in that apart from her arm she is the picture of health. Clearly the mass inside her arm had been developing for well over a year, i.e. when symptoms first showed themselves. Nothing else is apparent and so we have a glimmer of hope. We of course know that our hopes may be misplaced but until we know more that is all we have.
