Ms. Ellie Downes (27 years old) is a police officer in York City (UK). The first time she felt pain in her left knee was in October 10.2020, according to the newspaper Daily Mail (Older brother).
Ms. Ellie Downes did not expect knee pain to be a symptom of bone cancer
In March 3.2021, she went to see her family doctor for a check-up and was diagnosed with a muscle strain and sprain in her knee. In addition, she also suffered ligament damage, which occurs when the connective tissue between two bones is overstretched and torn. The doctor referred her to a physical therapist and advised her to rest and limit movement so she would recover soon.
However, the physiotherapist discovered an abnormality and asked Ms. Ellie to have a CT scan of her left knee. The scan showed a 10 cm diameter tumor growing on the tibia, near the knee. The tibia is the second longest bone in the body, running from just below the knee down to the ankle.
A biopsy later revealed that Ellie had osteosarcoma, the most common type of bone cancer. The disease occurs when a bone cell, instead of growing healthily, mutates and becomes a cancerous tumor. Most of these tumors develop around the knee. The disease is characterized by symptoms of pain, stiffness, easy bruising and bone fractures.
Statistics show that if the cancer has not metastasized, the survival rate is from 70 to 75%. In cases of metastasis, such as spreading to the lungs or other bone areas, the survival rate is only about 30%.
When she received the news of the diagnosis, Ellie was shocked. "It took me many months to accept this truth," Ms. Ellie recounted.
Fortunately, the cancer tumor has not spread. As soon as the diagnosis was received, doctors soon operated to remove the tumor and part of Ellie's tibia and knee joint. After that, she continued chemotherapy until October 10.2022 to completely destroy the remaining cancer cells in her body.
But just 2 months later, test results showed that she had lung cancer and 2 new tumors in her bones. She continued chemotherapy for the second time and finished it in April 4.2023. Before this chemotherapy, she went to a clinic to freeze her eggs.
Ms. Ellie and her boyfriend plan to get married in early 2025. Currently, she is recovering well and plans to use these frozen eggs for in vitro fertilization if unfortunately her fertility is affected by chemotherapy. , according to Daily Mail.
