Never stop believing
My name is Ruta and on October 27, 2014, a tumor was found in my left elbow. It was really big and the doctor’s prognosis wasn’t good. After many tests, I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. Amputation was suggested by some of my doctor's colleagues, but my doctor said he thought my hand could still be saved. An operation was done to remove the tumor, and my hand was saved, but with huge scars, I would always be reminded of what I was experiencing. The tumor damaged a lot of my nerves, so I can't handle my hand well. After the tumor removal, I still had 18 rounds of chemotherapy. Doxorubicin, cisplatin and high - dose methotrexate (MAP) followed by surgery and MAP for nonmetastatic osteosarcoma. Now, 4 years later (the last chemo was on January 11- 18, 2016), I can confidently but humbly say I’m an osteosarcoma survivor! Shortly after the treatment in May 2016, I had an infection in the same left arm which, required a new surgery and a prosthesis (on June 18, 2017) was inserted. On September 20, 2019, doctor-diagnosed T84.0 Mechanical complication of internal joint prosthesis. I had one more surgery on December 11, prosthesis revision. I hope that everything will be ok. It’s been a tough ride, but I’m still here. I look at my scars and I don’t find them to be ugly. I've learned to accept them because those scars saved my life.
Now I volunteer with cancer patients and I wanted to share my story with anyone that went through similar things.
