Melissa Oliver, 26, a junior doctor, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma – a type of bone cancer – when she was 13 years old after noticing pain and swelling in her left knee.
Within “the blink of an eye” she started chemotherapy, which she described as absolutely brutal, and then underwent limb-sparing surgery to remove the “sinister” tumour – which extended from the top of her thigh to her knee – and replace the bone with a titanium implant.
“The chemo was absolutely brutal, it just blew my whole life out the water,” Melissa, who lives in London, told PA Real Life.
“There was no school any more, there was no hair any more, I could hardly breathe most of the time, I could hardly sit up most of the time. It absolutely ruined me.”
Melissa in hospital, aged 19, before the amputation (Collect/PA Real Life) NOTE TO EDITORS: This image must only be used in conjunction with PA Real Life story REAL LIFE Osteosarcoma. All usage is subject to a fee or incorporated into your outlet´s agreed content package. Find copy in full on PA Explore or contact PA Real Life at RealLife2@pamediagroup.com for access or queries
Melissa had to “dive in at the deep end”, returning to school with crutches and a headscarf, which was “daunting”, and she tried to get back to normality – but the cancer returned again later on, with specialists revealing another tumour had developed around her metal implant.
Melissa underwent chemotherapy and surgery to amputate her left leg above the knee during her first year of medical school, aged 19, and at this point, she said she felt “so broken”.
After learning how to use a prosthetic leg, which allows her to walk only a maximum of 4,000 steps every day, the cancer returned once more, this time in Melissa’s lungs – but following surgeries to remove the two tumours, she has since been able to qualify as a doctor.
“I know how much influence those people (healthcare professionals) had in my life and I am so grateful for everything that they did to mean that I have a life at all,” Melissa said.
“You lean on your doctors – I see it now in my job – people lean on me for that reassurance, support, guidance – and I want to be able to give that to someone else.”
Melissa pictured after the amputation (Collect/PA Real Life) NOTE TO EDITORS: This image must only be used in conjunction with PA Real Life story REAL LIFE Osteosarcoma. All usage is subject to a fee or incorporated into your outlet´s agreed content package. Find copy in full on PA Explore or contact PA Real Life at RealLife2@pamediagroup.com for access or queries
According to Bone Cancer Research Trust, osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer in children and young people, and for patients with high grade osteosarcoma tumours, five-year survival is approximately 40%, which decreases as low as 25% for patients with metastatic disease.
Osteosarcoma can affect any bone in the body, but most commonly occurs in the bones of the legs or arms – and for Melissa, she first noticed symptoms in her left leg while dancing.
With pain around her left knee and swelling leaving her “hobbling around” and unable to stand, she visited her GP and was referred to hospital for further scans and a biopsy.
Melissa was then informed she had osteosarcoma, and due to the cancer being “so advanced”, she commenced chemotherapy immediately, followed by limb-sparing surgery and more chemotherapy.
Melissa had an above-the-knee amputation (Collect/PA Real Life) NOTE TO EDITORS: This image must only be used in conjunction with PA Real Life story REAL LIFE Osteosarcoma. All usage is subject to a fee or incorporated into your outlet´s agreed content package. Find copy in full on PA Explore or contact PA Real Life at RealLife2@pamediagroup.com for access or queries
“Chemo was absolutely horrific, and then I had the operation, which was horrific in its own measure … The horror just did not end,” she said.
Melissa’s family supported her “every second of every day”, but it was extremely challenging for the then 14-year-old to return to school after approximately one year out.
“I was wearing a headscarf, I walked with two crutches, I struggled just sitting down, standing up, carrying my bag to and from lessons, I was slower than everybody else,” Melissa said.
“At that age, you just want to fit in and I just did not at all.”
Melissa pictured before she had the lung surgeries (Collect/PA Real Life) NOTE TO EDITORS: This image must only be used in conjunction with PA Real Life story REAL LIFE Osteosarcoma. All usage is subject to a fee or incorporated into your outlet´s agreed content package. Find copy in full on PA Explore or contact PA Real Life at RealLife2@pamediagroup.com for access or queries
Years went by but the pain returned in Melissa’s left knee when she was 19 years old during her first year of medical school.
She booked an urgent appointment and a scan revealed the cancer had recurred leaving Melissa “absolutely floored”.
All the memories from when she was 13 years old came “flooding back” and she underwent chemotherapy again, followed by an above-the-knee amputation.
“I thought, I’m now looking at life as a full-time wheelchair user, it was impossible to comprehend,” she said.
Melissa pictured after the first lung surgery, aged 21 (Collect/PA Real Life) NOTE TO EDITORS: This image must only be used in conjunction with PA Real Life story REAL LIFE Osteosarcoma. All usage is subject to a fee or incorporated into your outlet´s agreed content package. Find copy in full on PA Explore or contact PA Real Life at RealLife2@pamediagroup.com for access or queries
“I just had no idea how to deal with this. I had no idea how to protect my friendships and allow them to thrive in an environment where I felt so broken.
“I just didn’t know who I was any more. When you take the ability to walk away, there’s so much identity lost.”
Melissa is still processing the impact of the amputation to this day, as learning to use a prosthesis is an “ongoing process”, especially when she can walk only 4,000 steps a day.
However, by her fourth year of medical school, she was able to go to placements and social events.
Melissa said learning to use a prosthesis is an `ongoing process´ (Collect/PA Real Life) NOTE TO EDITORS: This image must only be used in conjunction with PA Real Life story REAL LIFE Osteosarcoma. All usage is subject to a fee or incorporated into your outlet´s agreed content package. Find copy in full on PA Explore or contact PA Real Life at RealLife2@pamediagroup.com for access or queries
It was then during one of Melissa’s routine three-monthly check-ups when she was 21 years old that a scan revealed she had two more tumours – one in each lung.
“It just didn’t feel real. I was completely floored and just thought ‘What are you going to put me through now?’” she said.
“The first time it was just a recurrence at the primary site, and the second time, it was evidence of metastasis to the lungs … so I just thought, no risks, let’s cut it out.
“At this point, it was just personal preference – do you want a nice quality of life? Or do you want to suffer for a few months? And I just said ‘I’ll suffer’.”
Melissa at work (Collect/PA Real Life) NOTE TO EDITORS: This image must only be used in conjunction with PA Real Life story REAL LIFE Osteosarcoma. All usage is subject to a fee or incorporated into your outlet´s agreed content package. Find copy in full on PA Explore or contact PA Real Life at RealLife2@pamediagroup.com for access or queries
Melissa then underwent surgeries to remove both tumours in her lungs, where they had to dislocate her ribs, leaving her with two large scars on her back.
She suffered complications during surgery, including infections, which left her in the intensive care unit for a night.
Melissa thought “this could be it” and she may not survive but since then she said “things have just been on the up and up” and scans have since come back clear.
While Melissa will always feel the “terror” that the cancer could return again, she said she “can’t let this get in the way of her life”.
She has since qualified as a junior doctor, and with her own experience and the support she received, she wants to give back and campaign for further research into osteosarcoma.
Melissa wants to campaign for further research into osteosarcoma (Candid Studios/PA Real Life) NOTE TO EDITORS: This image must only be used in conjunction with PA Real Life story REAL LIFE Osteosarcoma. All usage is subject to a fee or incorporated into your outlet´s agreed content package. Find copy in full on PA Explore or contact PA Real Life at RealLife2@pamediagroup.com for access or queries
Her cancer journey has taught her about acceptance and realism, and she wants to urge children and young people to take “lumps and bumps seriously”.
“If you survive the 40% survival rate past five years, then you are left with limbs missing, limbs butchered, lungs butchered – that’s why we need more research into it,” she said.
“There’s just no funding into it because it’s so rare.
“All cancers are the absolute devil, this one no less … but we need treatments that don’t force people to lose their limbs.”
For more information and support, visit Bone Cancer Research Trust’s website here: bcrt.org.uk
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