A couple of years ago Sawyer had a shoulder injury from wrestling practice. Nothing really bad, just popped the rotator cuff on his right side enough for it to be sore for a little while. It hurts on and off, depending on what he does. Floor hockey in gym class irritated it enough this winter that we decided to have it checked out.
He went to an orthopedic specialist in Rochester who took x-rays, determined he needed to see better and ordered a couple of MRI scans: one of the shoulder, and one of the upper arm bone to have a look at a "normal" bone. The extra scan was ordered because of his leukemia treatment. So guess which scan came back with the potential problem? Yup, the "normal" bone. The scan showed some spots that the doctor assumed are bone infarcts caused by his chemotherapy. A bone infarct is where a spot of the bone dies because it doesn't get enough blood. If you look up information online you'll see that people get these all the time and most don't even know it.
But, since they showed up in his scan, it meant we next had to visit an orthopedic oncologist: who knew there was such a thing?! She looked at his x-rays and scans and agreed that the spots were indeed most likely caused by his treatment, and that if a full body scan was done there would be more spots on other bones. But, the upshot is that there's nothing to be concerned about. It's a normal occurrence and since the spots are on the inside of the bone they are protected by the hard outer covering. It's not like his bones are brittle or going to fall apart. The bone regenerates and the spots will at some point down the road go away (might be years or decades though).
One spot on the top of his shoulder will mean, however, that he needs to throw the shot put (for track) with his left hand and make sure not to lift really, really heavy amounts during weight lifting. She said generally problems occur in the shoulders and hips, around the joints. But she wasn't particularly concerned with anything. He goes back in 6 months for a follow-up with her. She said most likely if he has aches and pains, they're just normal teenager aches and pains.
Not to say that this doesn't still cause stress for Sawyer. It's one more thing to worry about inside his body. Plus we still have to go back to the first doctor to find out how he wants to treat the shoulder injury. It might be a case of just not doing things that irritate it, it might be physical therapy, or possibly surgery.
On the bright side, spring is here, Sawyer can get outside and be active, and in only a few weeks will celebrate his 18th birthday! We did some birthday shopping after the appointment with the orthopedic oncologist on Friday (I told him that women call it "shopping therapy" since we often go shopping if we're bummed about something). He found some good stuff at his favorite store, Eastern Mountain Sports. And, while at his chemotherapy treatment on Friday the nurse practitioner praised him for being so athletic and keeping his muscles strong and limber. She said that many teenagers in his situation are having issues with neuropathy (tingling and numbness in the hands and feet) and foot drop from their treatments. He's not experiencing any of that, so one more thing to be grateful for!
Happy spring everyone!
.jpg)
