Saturday, July 16, 2011

Osteochondroma what do I do?

I've been diagnosed with an osteochondra/bone tumor (not to be confused with a spur! It's apparently 2inches long!) on the pad of my heel and several doctors/physical therapists/other dancers have said I should get it removed while one doctor (who is the most specialized I've seen) has said, as long as it's not hurting right in that place and it's not growing (I had a bone scan, but don't know the results yet) I don't need the surgery. The thing is, it doesn't hurt all the time or anything, and I have a suspicion that it's done growing, but when I dance (I do ballet, so it's very demanding on the feet!) it can be more of a problem. Also, I had achilles tendonitis, so I got a bit caught up in the idea that it was related to the osteochondroma, and I realize now that this may have given the doctor the impression that I was mostly complaining about the tendonitis, which he didn't think was related to the bone. I've had physical therapy for my achilles tendonitis since (as per his prescription) and it's definitely gotten better, and I've even noticed that I have less pain around the osteochondroma area from prolonged walking (that's when it hurts other than when I'm dancing), but it's hard to say if the osteochondroma is something I'll be able to deal with going into my professional career this september. So I'm freaking out and I don't know what to do, and I don't know if I should get surgery or not and I'd really like some advice. The most specialized doctor (orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine and who's worked with dancers) thinks I can deal with it, and everyone else thinks I need surgery. I'm inclined to believe it will cause problems in the future and therefore I should get surgery, but I really don't know. Time is ticking away and I'm scared; not of surgery but of the aftermath/recovery. Also, it's causing my mom to get really worked up/worried about finances, so I don't want to make her pay for an expensive surgery if I "might not need it" Please, I need advice.

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