I broke my spine and shrank two inches. I was told it was back pain, but I have cancer

A WOMAN who broke her spine in two places and shrank two inches was later told by doctors that her back pain was actually an incurable cancer.

Mum-of-two Karen Smith discovered she had myeloma and now wants others to notice the symptoms of the rare disease to avoid late diagnoses.

Karen, 55, was diagnosed in January 2020 – two months after a fall at work left her struggling to walk and having to sleep upright in a chair.

The Newcastle mother said she repeatedly visited her GP in extreme pain and was told she had “mechanical back pain” from her job in a pharmacy.

The avid gym-goer was sent away with a referral for physiotherapy and advised to take over-the-counter painkillers, but neither improved her condition.

Karen became so desperate that she paid to see a private spinal consultant who ordered CT and MRI scans.

Two days later she was diagnosed with the rare form of cancer that tragically kills 3,000 people in Britain every year.

Karen is now working with Myeloma UK to raise awareness of the disease and the impact of delayed diagnosis on patients' quality of life.

Myeloma is the third most common form of blood cancer and the 19th most common form of cancer.

It is notoriously difficult to detect because symptoms such as pain, easily broken bones, fatigue, and recurring infections are often related to general aging and other conditions.

Karen told me StokeonTrentLive: “I felt the pain getting worse and it seemed like I could no longer stand as upright as normal.

“I was back and forth to the doctor; over-the-counter painkillers made no difference. I was 6 feet tall and now I'm 6 feet tall, but no one noticed.

“I had uncontrollable spasms and couldn't get into bed. I slept upright in a chair as best I could to get a few hours of sleep.

“I just knew something was wrong and it was getting worse. The pain came on randomly and was breathtaking.

“It was like someone was putting a rope around my ribs and sticking pins in me at the same time.”

Despite the pain she was in, Karen was not sent for an x-ray by her GP and was told to continue taking painkillers.

By the time she was diagnosed, she was found to have two fractured vertebrae and a compressed disc and had to wear a back brace and use a walker for four months.

Karen underwent chemotherapy and a stem cell transfer in March 2021, which allowed her to walk and drive again.

I was 6 feet tall and now I'm 6 feet tall, but no one noticed.

Karen Smith

Life seemed to be back to normal for the 55-year-old until she felt a sharp pain and heard a loud snap on the left side of her jaw while eating lunch late last year.

Tests showed the cancer had returned, causing her jaw to break.

She had five chemo sessions in January this year and is currently undergoing private treatment twice a week at a Nuffield hospital in Newcastle and Wolverhampton.

The treatment has proven very effective in suppressing the disease, which is incurable and can cause patients to live longer than five or 10 years after their diagnosis.

Opening up about her problems, Karen said: “I had never heard of myeloma before and came back with a lot of information when I was diagnosed.

“It is incurable, but treatable – and I have responded well to treatment and am fortunately feeling quite good about myself.

“I want people to know what myeloma is and recognize the signs. If something doesn't feel right, get it checked.

“We need more funding and awareness because it feels like myeloma is a forgotten cancer.”

Myeloma UK acting director of research and patient advocacy, Shelagh McKinlay, said: “We cannot allow the lives of patients like Karen to be diminished by avoidable delays in diagnosis.

“The quality of life for people with myeloma has never been more important, thanks to advances in treatment that now mean patients can live longer than ever before.”

Higherland Surgery said it “cannot comment on individual cases” but added: “We believe that in this case the surgery made the appropriate referral to a specialist service. We have not received any complaint from the patient.”