Soft Tissue Sarcoma - The Beginning

One day, about 3 years ago, my son, Pete, called me in to look at a very small lump on his left arm. It was located about mid-way between his armpit and elbow, and felt about the size of a small pea. I suggested he show it to his doctor, but told him that it was probably nothing more than a cyst.

He did go to his doctor, who told him pretty much what I told him; most likely a cyst, but to keep an eye on it and if it got larger or became painful to come back.

There was not much change for over a year, but one day he again asked me if I thought it had gotten bigger, and it had. I would say that it was now the size of a good sized pea. He went back to his doctor, and again was told that it was probably nothing and to just keep an eye on it.

It wasn't very long after, maybe a month or two, when Pete again asked me to take a look. I was shocked to see that the lump had grown to the size of a grape. It scared me because of the sudden and dramatic change in size. This time, when he went back to his doctor, the doctor recommended that he go to a surgeon to see about having it removed. He gave my son the name of a local surgeon and my son called and made an appointment.

The surgeon must have had a busy calendar, as the first available appointment was about 2 months out. On that day, Pete was just about to walk out the door when his cell phone rang. It was the surgeon's office and they needed to reschedule because the doctor had an emergency. The first available appointment was 3 weeks later.

We were getting concerned because the lump was now the size of a walnut, and it was causing discomfort when my son moved his arm because it was actually rubbing against his side. I was relieved when he finally went to the appointment, but when he got home he was very upset. This surgeon had been very dismissive and told him that he could remove it but it was only cosmetic and his insurance company most likely would not pay to have it removed.

The first thing my son did was to find another surgeon and call for an appointment. When he explained that he felt this was rather urgent they gave him an appointment about 2 weeks out. This surgeon looked at the mass and immediately recommended an oncologist, and told my son that when he called to set up the appointment to tell them that he may have a "sarcoma".

My son made the call to the oncologist and the first date they offered was about six weeks away, so my son mentioned that the surgeon had told him it may be a "sarcoma". That one word prompted an appointment just 3 days later.

That one word would change our world.