First clinic with Mr Grimer

On monday 1st June i attended a clinic with Mr Robert Grimer at St James hospital. At the clinic Mr Grimer sat me down and explained that my tumour was in my fibula bone at the lower end near my ankle joint. The plan was for the chemotherapy to kill 90% or more of the cancer cells and then he would remove the diseased part of the fibula bone plus abit extra just to be safe. He told me there was a problem with this.

This is because he would not be able to leave me any fibula bone to support my ankle joint which in turn would leave me with an unstable ankle which is very serious. To try and rectify this problem he said there were two options. Firstly he could remove some of my fibula from my left leg and pin it to my right tibia bone and use that to support the joint. This would be ok for walking but twisting and turning and contact sport would be out the question and the new supporting bone would last for 10 years maximum. The other option would be to fuse my ankle joint to my tibia bone which would give me a stiff ankle which is also not good.

Mr Grimer then said if the chemotherapy did not work as well and the tumour did not shrink as much the only option would be a below knee amputation to be safe. He said if this was the case with how good prosthetics are these days i would have near perfect mobility and be able to run and play sport.

At the moment my reaction to this is i would go for an amputation even if the chemotherapy worked well. This is because i am only 20 years old and want to be able to play sport and be active once my treatment is complete. I know to some people this seems extreme and hard to grasp but i have accepted that my right leg is going to be useless and the best way forward is to have a prosthetic and take up running as a sport. I might even end up a world beater!!!!