A patient who was told that she was suffering from an “sprain” within her leg was able to determine it was a cancerous tumor within her spine.
Sarah Matthews, 32, reported the sensation as a “burning” as well as “shooting” feeling in her leg. This was only experienced in the evening.
Sarah who is from Warrington was adamant that the only way for her to relieve the discomfort was to move around her home “for several hours”.
She explained to The Liverpool Echo : “It was always in my left calf but never anywhere else or body part. My right leg was never affected, it always affected the left side of my leg.
“It was a burning, shooting sensation , and whenever I experienced the pain, I could not just sit down, stand still and straighten my legs. I had to literally move around my flat for many hours.
“As when I laid down I felt the sensation, and it was incredibly painful. I would walk around my apartment for nearly 4 hours from 1am until 5am, wandering aimlessly, while my companion at the time was trying to get to sleep.
“I would walk around since that is the best way to be able to get some relief from it. I’d put the hot water bottle on the leg and initially I thought the cause was restless leg syndrome or something or a form type of sciatica.”
Sarah stated that she had spent “two and one-half year” trying to determine the problem.
Sarah who was in London at the time claims that her doctors advised her that she had not done any kind of exercise that could have caused this pain.
They took Sarah away, claiming she suffered an injury.
When Sarah relocated back to Warrington The pain was “at the highest level”.
An MRI scan showed that she was suffering from a tumor on her spine called schwannoma . This is a rare kind of cancer that grows within the nervous system, with less than 200,000 patients affected.
Sarah was sent by The Walton Centre in Liverpool and was told by doctors that she was in danger of losing her mobility due to the tumor growing and pressing on her spine in the event that it wasn’t removed. The operation was performed on December 2 , last year, just 12 weeks after being diagnosed.
She stated: “They said the pain I was feeling was basically nerve discomfort and nerve injury from the pressure upon the spinal cord. What I was feeling was caused by my sciatic nerve.” Sarah’s operation was successful and the tumour that was found in her spine was not cancerous.
But, she is now facing a recovery period of 18 to 24 months and is suffering from nerve damaged.
Due to the tumors which feed off nerve ends, Sarah was forced to cut off one nerve inside the spinal column during the surgery that has caused damaged nerves.
She added: “I always try and find the positives in everything and I’m sure that others who go through more than I do. It’s one of those things that if you don’t remain optimistic, it will consume your body up.
“The pain is is among the more physically painful events that I have ever experienced and I suffer from endometriosis, and it was pretty high on the threshold of pain in dealing with cramps and the back pain however this is the next to the next level.”
Sarah has created an account on GoFundMe to assist in the cost of her recuperation.
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