Kain's Page

About Me:

On Father's Day In June 2000 I was playing football (2 hand touch) in the backyard of my dad's house. The ball was handed off to me for a running play and when "tagged" I went down to the ground. A pop was felt in the left leg and my knee swelled immediately. I have a high tolerance for pain and never broke a bone in my body before that so I tried to wait it out to see if the swelling would subside. The pain began to set in and I was driven to the emergency room. The ER doctor said he saw some sort of growth in my knee which I disregarded. I honestly thought he'd put a cast on my leg and send me home. I sat in the hospital for 2 days before the surgery to repair my leg was performed. The doctors who performed my surgery were great but in hindsight I probably should have seen an Orthopaedic Oncologist if I knew the severity of my condition. At the time the tumor was classified as an Aneurysmal Bone Cyst (ABC), easily confused under microscope with a GCT. The pain I felt during the recovery was horrific but eventually I recovered almost fully and was never told the "tumor" would come back.
In July 2001 my wife and were married in Jamaica. During our "weddingmoon" I started experiencing pain again and scheduled a visit to the orthopedist upon my return to NY to figure out what was going on. He told me, "The tumor came back". I said, "Tumor? What tumor?". The ABC was now a GCT and I became both concerned and annoyed. From there I was referred to a specialist at the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases. Dr. James Wittig performed the surgery to remove the recurrent GCT in January of 2002. His procedure involved using liquid nitrogen (cryosurgery) to destroy the cells of this very aggressive tumor. I am happy to say that since then I have been GCT free - 6 years and counting.
Dr. Wittig is a fantastic doctor whom I recommend HIGHLY. He is easily searchable on Google and has a website: www. bonecancer.org. By the way he is no longer affiliated with HJD but if you check his website he has a location in NYC and in New Jersey.
Although I am tumor free, I have very little strength in my left leg and my knee is very unstable. Another surgery will be required to repair this in the near future. In the meantime I will continue to strengthen my quads and hamstrings in an attempt to delay surgery as long as possible. I have to consider myself fortunate because years ago the femur and tibia would have been fused or my leg would have been amputated.
One important thing I did not mention: I don't know if I could have gone through this alone. My wife was there every step of the way and I am very thankful for it.

How do GCTs affect you?

GCT patient

Location of primary tumor:

Left Distal Femur

Date of diagnosis of primary tumor:

June 2000

Treatment of primary tumor:

Removal of GCT with curettage. Addition of bone cement and cadaver bone with screws and a metal plate.

Facility treated at for primary tumor:

Putnam Hospital Center

Would you recommend this facility and it's Doctors to another GCT patient?

Good facility but they do not specialize in removal of GCT

Recurrence? If so, where?

Yes. Left Distal Femur.

Date of recurrence:

Jan 2002

Treatment of recurrence:

Removal of GCT with currettage and cryosurgery. Bone grafting from Iliac crest. Bone cement also used. 3 rods and 3 screws also inserted into the femur.

Facility treated at for recurrence:

NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases

Would you recommend this facility and it's Doctors to other GCT patients?

Yes

Metastasis? If so, where?

No

Tumor free?

Yes

Current GCT Status:

Tumor free for 6 years and counting