Hi!
My dad was diagnosed with undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma in December 2007. He had pain in his R knee for about a year and the local doc just blew it off. His leg started to swell and it became 3 times the normal size. No doc would do MRI as he may have had metal in his eye from work. He finally had a CT scan that showed a massive tumor. Too big for our local docs so referral to Mayo. My parents were told by local doc he was 99% sure it wasn’t cancer as it didn’t present like cancer tumor. Plan for a week or so at Mayo for quick surgical removal and then home. He spent 4-1/2 months there in Rochester. Tumor was cancer (at that time this type was very rare) could find any info on Google about it. They did radiation to toughen up the edges for easier removal. He was given massive dose of chemo (2-3 times the normal dose). After that he threw blood clots thru his heart & lungs and “died” twice, once in the ambulance and once in the ER. Once he recovered from that it was surgery time. The rumor surround his thigh muscle and placed so much pressure on his bone it was deteriorating. They had to place a metal rod in this thigh bone to stabilize the leg, and had to remove the whole muscle. The tumor was 17 in wide and weighed 15 pounds. During removal the tumor broke open and spilled out inside his leg. At 6 month check up it had metastasized to his lungs. More chemo, some tumor got smaller while others got bigger, next check up, spread to his lymph nodes, and we can assume to his brain as there were cognitive issues towards the end. My daddy fought a very hard and long 2 years and lost his battle December 2, 2009. If only his local doctor listened better and didn’t blow him off, maybe the prognosis would have been better. Prayers to all of you who are fighting this horrible disease!! You are in my prayers. God bless!