My Diagnosis Story

Donna Gendron: My Diagnosis Story
HEALTHJOURNEYS
Donna Gendron Cancer

My name is Donna. I am a mom of 4 Daughters, married 45 years, was a fitness instructor for 15 years, an avid runner, loved spinning and lifted weights as well as street biking, all of which I began and was still doing, with the exception of the fitness instructor, until cancer decided to make my leg its home. As my girls...

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What symptoms led up to your diagnosis?

No symptoms, only a sudden appearance of a pea size lump on the inside of my right knee

What tests did your doctor do, and what was this experience like?

MRI, scary, in fact, terrified because it had tripled or more in size. 6 weeks waiting for this was way too long, then results were on a CD that the Dr. I saw never even read

Upon learning about your diagnosis- what happened next?

Was told it was a hematoma. I felt in my gut it was more.

I saw another doctor who verified that diagnosis I had done a lot of research. Felt again that it was more. By this time it was as big as a small watermelon, so from a pea to a watermelon in 6 weeks. Continued with research, then horrible pain in my knee. Visited our local hospital for weeks, finally an emergency-on-call Dr. ordered an ultrasound. never heard back. Continued with the knee pai,n nightly visits to the ER. The last visit, a new on-call Dr. walked in and asked me my problem. He saw my leg, went and got my chart, came back, and crossed his arms with a very serious look in his eyes. He proceeded to ask me if I knew what a Liposarcoma was. My breath slowed and my heart sunk. There was my validation. I knew precisely what it was since I had been looking at it on the computer screen for at least 2 and a half months. After a CT scan and X-rays, it was confirmed it was cancer. A biopsy then 10 weeks of radiation. The end result: Pleomorphic Liposarcoma  and a hip disarticulation. I am in the process of writing a book.