Found a lump on DS 12 leg - v worried

[BlogOnTheTyne]

Going to make a GP appointment asap but wondering if anyone else can suggest to me what this lump might be? It's at /near the knee joint but on the outer side of his leg and is hard and about the size of a small egg. DS says it doesn't hurt and may have been there a while. I've not seen it before.

Am wondering about possible causes from something v minor - like sports' injury related - to something catastrophic. I know we'll need medical advice on this but if anyone can suggest what it might be, please do, as I'm panicking.

How are things going Blog?

My ex partner had this about a year ago. It was to do with some kind of injury/stress thing to the knee, he's got a fairly manual job and was cycling a lot at the time as well. It was nothing to worry about and went away on its own x

DS1 had his Xray and the results are a benign exostosis from his femur - but quite a large one.

I am massively relieved that it's not cancerous. However, he's been referred to a paediatric orthopaedic consultant surgeon for further discussion, as it's so big.

Does anyone know if this might mean he needs an operation to cut off the tumour? The GP suggested that it might cause problems for surrounding tissue/ligaments etc.

Does anyone know if having a benign exostosis, is indicative of anything more worrying - like why would the body grow a bone where it shouldn't be growing? Would this put DS in any 'risk' catgeory?

Also, does anyone know what surgery might involve - ie GA or local anaesthetic?/ recovery period etc?

Benign, hooray, hope someone here comes along and can reassure you.

So glad it's not sinister!
I can't answer your questions I'm afraid, hope someone comes along soon who can help.

This could be sinister at this site but don't want to worry you, hopefully these other posts are right. Urgent GP appointment needed.

Roshbegosh - Think you might want to read the thread. OP's well past the "go to GP or not?" stage...

I think benign exostosis means that it's likely the same thing as my DH had - an osteochondroma? If so, his was removed at The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. It was definitely done under GA - the operation was a good few hours long - but like I said, there was the added issue of definite nerve involvement with his... They said that they couldn't tell him for certain why it grew that way, but that the most likely cause (since his was a single incidence - not the (inherited?) medical condition where you develop loads of them) was that his bone got some damage as it was growing and that all the subsequent overgrowth of bone stemmed from that unnoticed original injury...

I do know a little bit about exostosis because of my job. It may have started from a tendon rubbing over it, especially at the location you are describing. It's not indicative of anything sinister.
I would have thought any surgery would be straightforward.

Found out from the consultant we saw that DS will need an operation to have the bony exostosis removed.

I am thinking of using up some savings to get this done privately (don't have health insurance), so that we can have more choice over when it's done and DS will have a much better experience at the local private hospital.

However, I don't know what happens if there are suddenly complications post-op or during and then the costs racket up? I could just about afford the op. -(will find out the exact amount in next few days) but could not afford to have DS at ICU for several days etc etc. Maybe I'm just worrying that something might go wrong because I'm worried about DS.

Does anyone know what happens if you pay to go privately for an op. but can't afford extra and unexpected costs? Would they transfer DS to the local NHS hospital - which is about 10 mins drive down the road? Would he be transferred as a private patient, however and I'd still then have to pay?

I know that the money issue is minor compared with wanting DS to be OK. The reason I want to pull out all the stops and get it done privately, is to protect DS and give him the best of what I can. We've had experience of the local NHS hospital which isn't at all the worst hospital. But it'd be v likely that his op. would be suddenly postponed at the last minute or he'd be kept waiting all day, unable to eat or he'd find the whole noisy, busy ward atmosphere difficult on top of having a scary op. anyway.

With my work and precariously balanced lifestyle - a constant juggling act - I can't afford to have to reschedule everything if DSs op were cancelled. Non emergency op.s are often cancelled on the day or just before because of emergencies or whole ward closures cos of norovirus etc.

Anyway, I feel like I'm defending my desire to have DS seen privately but the thing is, I'm worried that I'd literally be unable to pay for extra costs, if something went wrong.

Has anyone here ever been in a similar situation - ie decided to pull out all the stops and pay privately for an op. or treatment and then find that the fees were massively more than you were expected because of things going wrong?

Of course you don't have to defend your decision to go private- but is it a fairly straightforward operation? Ir seems a shame to spend all your savings when there is no real medical need to do so - can you quiz the NHS hospital on things like cancellation rates, and how long he would have to stay in-that sort of thing- before you make the decision?

I agree - your DS is 12 and though not as nice as a private one, will able to cope with the local hospital as I'm assuming it is a short stay. I can understand your desire to get things done quickly however the cost element may create more stress than it is worth in this instance as it is just another thing for you to deal with. He will most likely see the same dr at the local hospital. Spend some money instead on a nice treat or weekend away for the family.

Hardly relevant now, but when my dh had the same operation (but on his arm) he was an NHS patient and yet the surgeon was supposedly the best in the UK at the time. Even if he'd gone private, he'd have not had anyone more skilled - just likely jumped the queue and had a private room. It's worth seeing who (and where) would be performing the operation and looking into their experience before assuming that going private would be any better. The majority of private drs/surgeons have NHS rolls too, so you could well end up paying for exactly the same surgeon!

Sorry - just re-read your last message. I see your main concern is cancellation. Yes, I guess that going private would make that far less likely. I can't advise about unexpected expenses, though, as we've only ever "gone private" when we had Bupa cover through a company plan...