Esther Shoebridge has never been one to pester her GP for no reason. The 59-year-old former optician from Beverley in East Yorkshire, a gym-goer and long-distance walker, prides herself on being fit and independent.
But when a nagging pain in her neck refused to go away in the fall of 2020, Esther sought medical advice and was reassured that it was nothing serious. The advice was to go home, take painkillers and rest until the discomfort subsided.
When it didn’t subside, I was given the same advice during a second visit to the doctor a few weeks later: painkillers and rest.
It took another five months before Esther discovered the shocking truth: she had broken a bone in her neck, which was the cause of her suffering.
Esther Shoebridge was told her broken neck was the result of myeloma, an incurable blood cancer that put her at risk of serious injury from minor slips and falls.
But there was much worse news. The fracture, doctors at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham told her, was the result of an incurable blood cancer that would almost certainly kill her within five years.
The disease, called myeloma, had spread throughout her body, leaving millions of holes in her bones, skull and spine, leaving her at great risk of further damage from the slightest slip or fall.
She later discovered that if her neck problems had been taken seriously earlier, she could have had treatment to prevent the bone damage and had more time to enjoy a decent quality of life.
“It was the height of the Covid-19 restrictions,” says Esther, “and that meant my husband Philip wasn’t allowed to be there when I got the shocking news.
‘I was in tears – I didn’t want to leave Philip, my daughter Grace and my four beautiful grandchildren. There was still so much I wanted to do.
The doctor who delivered the news said, “I suppose you’ve never heard of myeloma.”
‘But I told him that I knew all too well: I had just spent a year helping a good friend care for her mother, who had died of the disease.
One of Esther’s first symptoms was a raging thirst, with her drinking up to four liters of water every day
Experts say if Esther had been diagnosed earlier, the debilitating injuries that resulted from myeloma could have been prevented
“But I never thought for a moment that I had that. I felt that I was too young to get something like that.”
Myeloma affects about 4,500 people a year in the UK, mainly over the age of 65. It develops when DNA damage occurs in the bone marrow, the spongy material inside bones where blood cells mature.
This damage leads to the growth of abnormal cells that release a harmful protein that makes bones break easily. Symptoms range from bone pain and fatigue to kidney damage and nerve pain.
In Esther’s case, she later realized that one of the first signs was a raging thirst. This is because myeloma also attacks the kidneys, making them unable to remove excess calcium from the bloodstream. The body then drastically increases fluid intake to try to flush the calcium away.
Esther drank up to four liters of water a day.
‘It started with me feeling strangely weak and dizzy, not being able to walk as far as I normally would, or go to the gym as often as I normally would,’ she says. ‘Then I became incredibly thirsty and started losing weight, going from 9 stone to 7. I also suffered from insomnia and regular infections.’
It got to the point where Esther had to support her head to keep it from falling.
Esther’s first two rounds of chemotherapy failed, but a third attempt stabilized the cancer
‘I bought myself a neck brace because I imagined I had sprained it. Just the thought of having to walk around with these symptoms for months while the cancer was raging through me – it was absolutely horrifying.’
Experts say that if Esther had been diagnosed earlier, the debilitating injuries caused by myeloma could have been prevented — although the cancer itself could not be cured. Treatments such as chemotherapy slow the progression of the disease and limit the damage to the bones.
‘Myeloma saps the strength of your bones, so Esther’s was more damaged by the five-month delay,’ said Professor Graham Jackson, a myeloma specialist at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. ‘You can live up to 15 years with myeloma if you diagnose it early.’
Professor Graham added: ‘The longer it is left untreated, the greater the risk of fractures and breaks. Yet one in four patients waits ten months between symptoms and diagnosis – the longest of any cancer.’
Chemotherapy does not cure the disease, but it can reduce the number of myeloma cells.
Esther’s first two treatments failed, but after a third attempt the cancer stabilized.
While there are promising treatments in the pipeline, such as CAR-T therapy, a type of immunotherapy that helps the body’s immune system attack the cancer, they have not yet been approved for use in myeloma.
Esther said: ‘I refuse to let this defeat me. In August 2022 I walked four miles every day for five days to raise over £2,500 for Myeloma UK – not bad for someone with a broken neck. I feel better now than I have in years and this summer I am flying to the US to visit my daughter Grace and the grandchildren in Florida.’
