Some time around 1990 Mark was involved in a serious car accident. A dash to hospital for checkup showed no head trauma or life-threatening injuries, but x-rays taken of his left arm showed that the ulna was severely broken - he had been sitting with his elbow leaning on the open window at the time of the collision.
Surgery was performed to insert a metal plate along the bone to support it while it healed. On being released from hospital, Mark was advised that he could have the plate removed after the bone healed if he wished, but this wasn't really necessary.
Over the years Mark thought occasionally of having the plate removed but never acted on it. He was confident that the doctors had known what they were advising when they said it could be left indefinitely. Thus the plate was still inside his arm at the beginning of 2006, when he first began to feel strange sensations in his left hand.
Between February and July 2006 Mark went to several doctors trying to obtain a realistic diagnosis of the tingling in his fingers and of a small lump that had suddenly appeared near his left elbow, just above the edge if the plate. Various diagnoses ranged from something pressing on a nerve, to bursitis, to general lack of interest. Finally, one doctor suggested that the plate be removed. His idea was that the surgeon at that time could make a more definitive diagnosis while the arm was open. All the while Mark was steadily losing strength and feeling in his left hand!
Mark's partner, Caz, helped him to prepare for the hospital stay and organise his commitments for the time he would need for recovery.
Finally, on July 12, 2006, Mark was admitted to Knox Private Hospital to put himself in the surgeon's hands the following morning so the plate could be removed and we could learn what was wrong with his arm.
Imagine his devastation when, on recovering from the anaesthetic, the only words Mark could remember hearing were "You have cancer, but it will be alright." After making that pronouncement, the surgeon went away without any contact with Caz and leaving Mark to cope with this news alone.
There is some anecdotal evidence that severe trauma can precede or precipitate cancerous tumours, but there does not appear to be any clinical evidednce at this time. Nevertheless, we all wondered and speculated whether the car accident may have set Mark up for the worst year of his life.
