Dark spot on bone in xray?

Question

It is in the distal head of my fibula which I have no recollection of injuring. orthopod says pain is coming from the bone, not tendons/ligaments. so the xray shows a dark lession in the head of the fibula which corresponds to the location of the pain! UGH We are following up with and MRI and follow up on Friday.....moved up a week and a half, and just a few days is killing me. I am 34 F with no history of cancer and I am not sick....just fat. I have broken down today and got some ativan from the doc to get me throuhg this....I am a HUGE MESS! What can it be? If they find something in the mri will they do a biopsy? If it is simply a cyst what do they do to get it out of there? What posible cancers could be growing there and what do they mean! GET IT OUT GET IT OUT!!!!! And the best thing is my work is not gonna let me take a sick day on Friday to go to and adsorb my appointments....isn't there something illegal about not letting me use my sick days?

Answer 1

It may depend on your company's policy.
However, if your company meets certain guidelines and you do too (employed there 12+ months, worked over a certain amount of hours in the past 12 months, etc) then you may be eligible for this time under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which your employer MUST tell you about if eligible, and your condition DOES meet the requirements as far as what sort of treatment/situations are allowed.
Please see
http://www.las-elc.org/DV_FMLA.html
I had to use FMLA to care for my bipolar daughter. If you meet the criteria, your employer must accept it.

First, though, check your company's sick time policy - my last employer had it set that if you needed to go to a doctor for something that was NOT available outside of work hours, they had to let you take it as sick time.

Good luck! I'm sure it's all scary, but try to work on calming yourself down - stressing out isn't good for your health and may make things worse.

Answer 2

Could be any of a number of types of benign bone tumors and possibly a malignant tumor. Probably not a cyst. The tip off is the location. Head of a long bone is a common location for a number of benign bone tumors and you are in the right age group with the correct symptoms.

http://www.stjosephsatlanta.org/HealthLibrary/content.aspx?pageid=P07522


You will also need a bone scan done to check for other tumors. Start getting your head around the need for at least one surgery and possibly two. Make sure you maintain your health insurance. Don't give your job reason to fire you right now. I would not tell your employer any details of your medical condition until you have to. You really won't know exactly what type tumor you are dealing with until after the first surgery and the tissue samples have been evaluated by the pathologist. Until then the Dr's best guess is really all the Drs can give you as to an exact cause.

Most likely the tumor will need to be removed and replaced with donor bone from your hip. I'm guessing you are dealing with a benign condition - meaning not malignant but still a major pain in the rear to get treated. good luck

Answer 3

I know what you're going through! I just had x-rays done Tuesday for extreme pain of some duration, resistant to exercise, rest or heat in my left shoulder/arm. The x-ray showed a "dark spot" on the clavicle. The doc asked if I'd ever broken the collarbone; I have not. I'm scheduled for a CT scan and whole-body scan on Monday, and I'm asking the same question. What can it be?? I'm going a little buggie too. :(

Answer 4

work has to let you go if you have a physcians order or script..any doctor would give you the necessary paperwork..state and fed laws back you and the MD up. The dark area could be a collection of blood cells (marrow produces blood cells) could be cyst, xray cannot show detail MRI produces 3d color picture that can show type of cells..if abnormal cell growth..biopsey will indicate if benign or not...could just be a blockage (clot) in marrow or calcium deposit..no way to no without MRI..even if it is cancer it is completely curable if caught early

Answer 5

Drs notes are now required at most work places and that is silly====I know it is hard,but try not to worry about it as you will only make yourself sicker =good luck and hopefully it isn't to serious of a problem

Answer 6

I had the same problem--turned out to be an osteoid osteoma. Here is info--see if it fits your symptoms.
http://www.massgeneralimaging.org/Osteoid_Osteoma_Site/NewFiles/WhatIsOO.html
http://www.massgeneralimaging.org/Osteoid_Osteoma_Site/NewFiles/Radiographic.html

Take aspirin and see if the pain goes away. It is the ONLY drug that will help with the pain.

Answer 7

i think it is a fracture