Cancer and more cancer!

Friday I got discouraging news and I am trying to sort through all the new diagnosis and more importantly prognosis and what to do.  Not quite two years ago I started feeling discomfort in my leg that started to get more painful and finally went to the doctor which after numerous test informed me I had a sarcoma after biopsy .  Surgery and chemotherapy were suggested and it would be a limb saving surgery which I had never heard of.  I had follow up chemotherapy and radiation as well and thought the worst of it was over.  I now have hair again hooray !!! and life was looking bright so at the age of 50 I went back to college.  A month ago I started experiencing pain in what I thought was my lower back region as actually it was like a dull ache at first and thought I was pulling something so I cut down exercising for a while.  As I have started to lose alot of weight, have no energy, running fevers for no reason and then started getting horrible pain I returned to seeking out the problem.  My followup appointment  in September was good so I did not think I had to worry about cancer.

Now I am told I have Osteosarcoma of the pelvis.  I am trying to understand the difference between the primary cancer and what is being called a secondary osteosarcoma.  I am now 51 and my doctor said the prognosis is poor and although a resection can be done that my type of cancer does not always respond to cisplatin, methotrexate or doxorubicin but yet that is the suggested course of treatment for now as I make a few decisions on the suggested treatments.  The first time I had choosen to not take pain medicines as I had 16 years clean at that time and now I think back to this and remember how bad things got but the difference is I live too far away from my family support system and again I am faced with how to avoid pain medicine and maintain being clean and serene with this new battle before me.  

I have been trying to look at studies to see how effective treatment is with Osteosarcoma of the pelvis especially in my age group.  I have no history of Paget Disease or other factors that I read about yet  I do not want to put myself through more painful surgery if it is to no avail.