It was in the notes all along! AKA broken bone update

So it turns out the answer to the second opinion we have waited 3 weeks for was in my notes all along, and the doctors in Morriston missed it...

Along with 7% of the British population I have condition called Fibrous Dysplasia. Basically this means that in my left Humerus, fibrous tissue replaces bone and makes the bone very weak (you can find out more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibrous_dysplasia). This explains why my bone broke so easily, and the big lesion that appeared on all my scans. Essentially this is good news because the worst thing that can happen is I might break a bone (oh, now wait...) and it can be cured by a simple injection of drugs that inhibit fibrous material production and much drinking of milk!

All this was revealed to me by the very helpful Mr Gibbons at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford where I had gone for a biopsy and the long awaited 2nd opinion. It turns out I did not need a biopsy to establish what the cyst is, as it was recognised and diagnosed on an MRI scan I had in 2005 at the Nuffield while preparing for surgery on my Arthritic elbow. It was the aforementioned Fibrous Dysplasia and was nothing to be worried about. There is some more good news that comes along with this diagnosis; I will not be having a bone graft, as if new bone was put into the cyst the fibrous dysplasia would turn it into more fibrous material, thus rendering the procedure useless, and actually counter productive in terms of my overall well-being.

This is pretty galling on a number of levels; firstly the answer was in my notes all along, secondly Swansea missed it, thirdly I twice came very close to having a pointless bone graft that would have been extremely painful and a waste of time.

However I don't want to dwell on the negatives too much, as overall it has been a very encouraging couple of days. The tumour scare is over, and soon to be sorted out and we are just left with the fracture to deal with. I go back to the Nuffield on Thursday to see Mr Rees, the man who operated on my elbow back in 2005, to discuss the fracture. It is possible over the past 4 weeks the bone has healed enough that I may not even need the plate any more. We wont know till we see the X-rays that were taken yesterday. But ultimately if after all of drama I end up with just an operation to put a plate in my arm and an injection to calm my industrious fibrous tissue I will be pleased!

I will update again on Thursday!