A mum of two who is battling the same blood cancer which killed her own mother has urged people to heed the warning signs.
It took 10 months for Laura Laing, 46, to receive a diagnosis and it may have taken longer if she hadn’t put her pharmacy knowledge to good use.
The 46-year-old Glaswegian first felt poorly on New Year’s Day 2019, couldn’t run as well as normal and had headaches.
Her GP took bloods and while some of her levels were “a bit odd” none suggested she had anything majorly wrong.
She began to get jaw pain and neck swelling and got a referral from the doctor.
In August, a GP friend phoned her, and by then she was shaking.
A&E doctors diagnosed a lymph node infection.
A biopsy was carried out on her neck and she had a CT scan.
She said: “I thought I had some form of cancer as the lymph node was so huge.”
But because of her age myeloma, which occurs in the bone marrow and affects 24,000 in the UK, had not been considered.
She was put on intravenous antibiotics to reduce the swelling.
Laura was reviewed weekly but her low haemoglobin levels concerned her and she pressed to be referred.
On November 15, she heard she had myeloma. She said: “It was horrific. The consultant just did a routine blood test. He wasn’t looking for myeloma.”
Laura had lost mum Sarah Finnie to the disease at 64 when she was 30, and her dad when she was 18 to leukaemia. One of the hardest things was the months she had to spend apart from her daughters Evie, 15, and Rosie, 13.
She is well now but added: “It’s very hard when you start feeling better and you know that it could change quite quickly. I have cancer for life.”
As Myeloma Awareness Week begins today Laura urged people to trust their instincts. She said: “The more people are aware of myeloma the better. It is so important to raise awareness.”
On average, eight people die with it daily but it is hard to detect as symptoms are often linked to ageing or minor conditions. Early diagnosis is key to a good prognosis.
Symptoms include persistent or unexplained pain for more than four to six weeks – especially in back or ribs, spontaneous fractures, a reduction in kidney function, recurrent infections, nosebleeds or unexplained bleeding, anaemia, breathlessness, fatigue or weight loss.
For more information about myeloma go to www.myeloma.org.uk
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