"I thought I'd hurt my knee at the gym - I actually had aggressive bone cancer"
- last year
A gymgoer who suffered from a sore knee for months was horrified to find she had - aggressive bone cancer.
Amy Haigh, 27, lived a fit and healthy lifestyle when her world was turned upside down in July 2022.
Amy had dealt with knee pain for six months, but thought she was suffering a sports injury.
When she finally saw a doctor, they found that Amy had a tumour on the end of her femur, close to the knee joint.
The former early childhood educator was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer in her left knee.
She had to undertake a long surgery to remove the cancerous bone as well as three rounds of chemotherapy.
Amy, from Bombay, Auckland, New Zealand, said: "I thought that it was a sports injury originally.
"I had visited two physiotherapists, a chiropractor and an osteopath and was following their instructions and doing exercises but my leg wasn't improving."
In June, as Amy prepared for a bikini competition, the pain started to get worse and her knee swell up.
She said: "I had a dull ache I couldn't get rid of. I had one session with a personal trainer who told me to get an MRI.
"I was in the gym five days a week and hoped to participate in a bikini competition as I was really passionate about weight lifting.
"I felt I couldn't progress until my leg was sorted."
The following month she had an X-ray and was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon who ended up declining her referral and she had to be referred a second time.
Amy said: "This person for some reason declined my referral - despite there being a deformity of my bone in the x-ray.
"I was referred to another orthopaedic surgeon who sent me for an x-ray of my hips and an ultrasound of my left knee. Both were fine.
"He then sent me for the MRI I had been asking for, which showed a clear abnormality on my left distal femur."
Amy was officially diagnosed in October 2022 after her biopsy that saw the bone sample taken with a drill in her knee.
She said: "I was sent for a second MRI and CT scan, but a few days later I was sent for a biopsy where they put me under, cut my leg open and drilled into the bone to take a sample.
"It was confirmed two weeks exactly after that that I had cancer. I started chemo a week after that.
"I'm glad I listened to my instincts and kept pushing for answers. I also feel lucky that I am so in tune with my body and knew that something wasn't right."
In January she had surgery to remove the cancerous part of the femur.
The surgery took around eight hours and surgeons removed part of the bone that was cancerous.
It was replaced with a donor's bone from the USA - now one plate and 11 screws hold that part of her leg together.
During the surgery, Amy lost two litres of blood and had to stay in hospital for eight days but the surgery was successful.
Amy said: "I've been very up and down. The big surgery was very difficult.
Amy Haigh, 27, lived a fit and healthy lifestyle when her world was turned upside down in July 2022.
Amy had dealt with knee pain for six months, but thought she was suffering a sports injury.
When she finally saw a doctor, they found that Amy had a tumour on the end of her femur, close to the knee joint.
The former early childhood educator was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer in her left knee.
She had to undertake a long surgery to remove the cancerous bone as well as three rounds of chemotherapy.
Amy, from Bombay, Auckland, New Zealand, said: "I thought that it was a sports injury originally.
"I had visited two physiotherapists, a chiropractor and an osteopath and was following their instructions and doing exercises but my leg wasn't improving."
In June, as Amy prepared for a bikini competition, the pain started to get worse and her knee swell up.
She said: "I had a dull ache I couldn't get rid of. I had one session with a personal trainer who told me to get an MRI.
"I was in the gym five days a week and hoped to participate in a bikini competition as I was really passionate about weight lifting.
"I felt I couldn't progress until my leg was sorted."
The following month she had an X-ray and was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon who ended up declining her referral and she had to be referred a second time.
Amy said: "This person for some reason declined my referral - despite there being a deformity of my bone in the x-ray.
"I was referred to another orthopaedic surgeon who sent me for an x-ray of my hips and an ultrasound of my left knee. Both were fine.
"He then sent me for the MRI I had been asking for, which showed a clear abnormality on my left distal femur."
Amy was officially diagnosed in October 2022 after her biopsy that saw the bone sample taken with a drill in her knee.
She said: "I was sent for a second MRI and CT scan, but a few days later I was sent for a biopsy where they put me under, cut my leg open and drilled into the bone to take a sample.
"It was confirmed two weeks exactly after that that I had cancer. I started chemo a week after that.
"I'm glad I listened to my instincts and kept pushing for answers. I also feel lucky that I am so in tune with my body and knew that something wasn't right."
In January she had surgery to remove the cancerous part of the femur.
The surgery took around eight hours and surgeons removed part of the bone that was cancerous.
It was replaced with a donor's bone from the USA - now one plate and 11 screws hold that part of her leg together.
During the surgery, Amy lost two litres of blood and had to stay in hospital for eight days but the surgery was successful.
Amy said: "I've been very up and down. The big surgery was very difficult.