In late August 2020 Phoebe started to complain about pain in her right leg. The pain came and went,
and to be honest we didn’t think a great deal about it. As the weeks went by the pain was occurring
more often, and in particular at night, making it difficult for Phoebe to sleep. A telephone
consultation with the GP, no face to face appointments available due to Covid19, resulted in a ‘growing
pains’ diagnosis. We were told to give Phoebe paracetamol to help with the pain, which we did. Fast
forward again to late October 2020, and despite giving paracetamol as advised, the pains had not
gone away, and in fact were getting worse. Phoebe started to walk with a limp. A further telephone
consultation with the GP resulted in the same diagnosis, growing pains, although there was a
suggestion of a sporting injury? Given that Phoebe has never been incredibly ‘sporty’ this seemed a
little off, however we didn’t question it as other than her leg Phoebe was in very good health.
In November 2020, completely out of the blue, we received a telephone call from the Specialist
Rehabilitation Centre in Preston to say that Phoebe had been referred by the GP to be fitted for
insoles, as they suspected her leg pains were down to flat feet. This is the first we’d heard of this,
but we were relieved that she was finally being seen by someone face to face. Little did we know
that the following day Phoebe’s cancer journey would begin.
Phoebe was taken to the appointment by her grandparents, as we were both at work. I received a
telephone call whilst in work from a very worried Grandma to say that Phoebe had been seen by a
physiotherapist, who quickly dismissed flat feet and had called immediately for a consultant. The
consultant had examined Phoebe and asked her to go for x-ray. The consultant explained there was
heat coming from the site of the leg pain, and that this needed to be investigated further. Phoebe’s
x-ray was done within the hour. On my way home from work I received a call from the specialist to
say he had reviewed Phoebe’s x-ray, and that he would like to see her in clinic the following
morning, preferably with a parent. In that instant, I knew something was wrong. As Phoebe and I sat
in front of the specialist the following morning I could see in his eyes that he was about to deliver
bad news, although he couldn’t give an exact diagnosis there and then he explained the x-ray was
concerning and he had ordered further tests, bloods, ct and mri. I asked what the worst case
scenario was, and having googled the symptoms the previous evening, asked directly whether he
thought this could be a sarcoma. He said yes, it was a possibility. At this point, Phoebe asked what a
Sarcoma was, and the specialist explained it was a type of cancer. As hard as I tried not to cry it was
impossible, and tears streamed down my face, which in turn made Phoebe cry too. The specialist
asked if we needed some time to take it all in, which we did, and Phoebe was then seen by a
member of his team and given crutches, and told not to weight bare on her affected leg.
A CT and MRI scan were done the following week, and we were called back to see the specialist
within 24 hours, and again the news was not what we had hoped. Phoebe’s scans were sent to
RMCH and to the RVI at Newcastle where they were looked at by the paediatric oncologists and
orthopaedic surgeons. Phoebe underwent a bone biopsy at RVI Newcastle on 02.12.2020 and a
Hickman Line was fitted at the same time. Any hopes we had of this being a cyst or a benign tumour
disappeared. On 07.12.2020 we were given the news that turned out world upside down, Phoebe
had Osteosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of bone cancer. We were asked if we had any
questions to which I had only one ‘can it be treated?’. The consultant told me he would do his best,
and I guess that really is all he can do.
On the 14.12.2020 Phoebe began her chemotherapy at RMCH, and here we are now. Phoebe has 2
more chemotherapy sessions before she undergoes extensive limb salvage surgery, followed by
another 18 weeks (minimum) of chemotherapy. At the end of all of this she will have further surgery
to remove the metastases (tumours) that have spread to her lungs.