Treated as simple sciatica and cured with painkillers: the reality was very different
Jake Spencer’s story begins with a seemingly trivial pain in his leg. In particular, in his left thigh. The man, 17 years old at the time, was struggling with his first guides and was convinced that it was the use of friction that had inflamed some of his nerves. An annoyance that became increasingly stronger and that at first he had mistaken for sciatica. Only three years later, following a biopsy, Spencer discovered that he was actually suffering from a rare form of tumor in the thigh. An unfortunately malignant and aggressive tumor that affects the soft tissues.
First a wrong diagnosis then the shocking truth: it was a tumor
Interviewed by the newspaper Daily MailJack Spencer recounts his long ordeal:
“I just remember being told it was cancer: I felt like I was in a movie, everything was going in one ear and out the other. I walked on autopilot for a few days, trying to understand what was really happening. At the same time, however, I was feeling a kind of relief: this pain was not all in my head, there was an answer. From that point of view, the diagnosis gave me a liberating feeling”.
Jake Spencer was just 17 years old when, afflicted by an increasing pain in his left thigh, doctors diagnosed him with simple sciatica, due to a damaged nerve. Despite the painkillers taken, the pain never went away.
Spencer’s condition worsened more and more: due to a strong stiffening of the leg, At one point the man was no longer able to walk. In the meantime, the long series of physiotherapy, x-rays, and shock wave therapy had brought no improvement to his health.
Only in 2018, following a biopsySpencer was able to discover the bitter truth: he suffered from a serious form of malignant tumor.
“When I found out I was really angry, I felt abandoned. I felt like a lot of the signs and symptoms had gone unnoticed. All that wasted time had allowed the tumor to grow, causing me even more pain. I didn’t think about the future, I just knew I had to get through the present. Nothing else really mattered. Survival mode is the best way to describe it.”
The tough battle against the disease
The rare form of cancer that struck Jake Spencer is technically called synovial sarcoma and only in the UK It affects just 79 people a year.
After undergoing a five-week course of radiotherapy and surgery, the man 13 cm of thigh was removed. Unfortunately, however, after the operation the doctors noticed another anomaly, as Spencer himself says:
“I was having one of my routine checkups when a shadow was spotted on my lungs. It turned out there was another tumor there, a sarcoma, that had been hidden by my heart. It was like a kick in the stomach. I was terrified, I thought I wasn’t going to survive the chemotherapy. I was in college, and it was a pandemic, so I had to separate from my family. Not having them around me was just devastating. It was heartbreaking for all of us.”
In 2020, Spencer underwent further successful surgery to remove the lung tumor.
Jack Spencer’s Current Health Condition
Jack Spencer reveals his current health condition:
“Even though I lost some of my muscle, I am very grateful that the cancer was removed. I have lingering orthopedic issues due to muscle loss in my thigh, but I am staying positive. I don’t blame the doctors for the misdiagnosis, it was very difficult to find the tumor because it was so deep and there was no visible lump.”
And he concluded like this:
“In a way, I’m grateful that I felt pain, because I’ve heard horrible stories of people who never knew they had sarcoma until it was too late. It took 941 days to get the diagnosis, and I consider myself very lucky to have survived.”
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