Before Anyone Gets Too Concerned

30003, originally uploaded by jessica_beagan.

Yes, this is an MRI image of my left knee, taken from the back. Specifically you are looking at the distal femur. It's the part of your thigh that meets your knee. And surprisingly, that nasty looking spot is nothing serious.

Anyway, I've had knee pain for years, so the doctor ordered an MRI. There is some scar tissue from an old injury, and this very big spot.

And I'll admit, it's been an interesting week since I found out about it. The good news from the get-go has been that it's nothing, a relatively common cluster of cells called an enchondroma. Completely benign. But a follow up with an oncologist was in order, along with a bone scan. Fortunately, he corroborated the initial diagnosis. Basically, it's like a birthmark inside my bone.

I wasn't overly concerned, but I did have to start to get my head around the worst-case scenario: surgery to remove the spot. Roughly 8 weeks of recovery. It was never even likely to be cancer. But fortunately, I got the best-case scenario. No surgery needed. So now that we know that the spot has nothing to do with anything, I'll follow up with the orthopedist and do some physical therapy to get it strong again.

Quite an image though, eh?