Woman Diagnosed with Rare Blood Cancer That Erodes Bones in Ribs, Pelvis, Spine, and Skull

A woman’s severe migraines were ignored by doctors till she ended up in the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a deadly blood cancer that had holes in her ribs, pelvis, spine, and skull. However, once she got a headache so severe that Simone began displaying symptoms of a stroke, which included slurred speech and paralysis on the right side of her body. When her mother took her to the hospital, doctors initially told her she may have sarcoidosis—an inflammatory condition. But the latest investigations revealed that Simone was suffering from myeloma – an incurable blood cancer. By the time doctors confirmed her diagnosis, Simone’s cancer had spread – leading to holes, known as lesions, in her ribs, pelvis, and spine, and soft spots in her skull – and she needed

to undergo chemotherapy as soon as possible. The cancer, even though now in control, has made Simone’s bones so weak that she has broken her neck twice in the last seven years. “When I was first diagnosed seven years ago, it was literally elderly people on leaflets who were smiling,” she told The Sun in an interview.

What is myeloma?

Myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells – a kind of white blood cell that produces antibodies to fight infection. According to experts, cancerous plasma cells build up in the bone marrow, crowding out healthy blood cells, and produce non-functional antibodies, leading to bone pain, weakness, kidney problems, and increased infection risk. Even though it cannot be cured, doctors can treat the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and the related conditions that it causes. Often, they can slow its progress so you can live longer.

Signs and symptoms of myeloma

Myeloma causes bone pain, usually in your back, head, chest, pelvis, or upper leg, and is often the first symptom people notice. Other symptoms include:

• Fatigue and weakness
• Getting sick very often
• Numbness or tingling in your arms or legs
• Unexplained weight loss
• Nausea and vomiting

Risk factors of myeloma

While doctors are not sure what causes myeloma, they do know it happens due to a gene mutation in your plasma cells. The mutations cause plasma cells to divide uncontrollably. These are not the mutations you are born with, but they happen throughout your lifetime. The risk factors include:

Sex

Myeloma mostly affects more men than women.

Race

It affects twice as many people who are Black as it does people of other races.

Age

Most people with multiple myeloma are diagnosed between 40 and 70 years of age.

Having a family member with myeloma

If more than one family member in your family has myeloma, it can affect you, but experts do not know why there is a link, as the condition is not hereditary.

Obesity

Having obesity is a known risk factor for the development of multiple myeloma.

How is myeloma treated?

Treatment for myeloma involves many cancer therapies, with or without a stem cell transplant. A stem cell transplant may slow cancer spread drastically. Other treatments include:

Stem cell transplant

Stem cells are specialised cells in your bone marrow or blood that produce healthy new plasma cells.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy medicines reduce the number of abnormal plasma cells.

Targeted therapy

This treatment targets weaknesses in the plasma cells so they die. People with multiple myeloma are living longer than ever because of new targeted therapies.