Kildare woman living with blood cancer appeals for support

A KILDARE woman who has been living with blood cancer for eight years has appealed to people in the county to support a ‘Miles for Myeloma’ fundraising campaign.

Ann Fleming, a retired primary school teacher and mother of four from Naas, said the campaign is inviting walkers, runners, cyclists and swimmers to clock up ‘Miles for Myeloma’. Open to all, including multiple myeloma patients, family, friends, and health care practitioners, participants are encouraged to set goals to promote exercise, raise funds and spread the message of living well with the blood cancer.

Ann was first diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 2016 and says there is still a huge fear factor around it, with people often presuming the worst when they are told they have the illness. “But with the proper treatment the reality is people can live very well with the disease and for a long period,” she said.

According to Multiple Myeloma Ireland there are approximately 350 new cases of multiple myeloma diagnosed in the country every year. The organisation is keen to have a database established to properly track the cases.

The most common early symptom for Multiple Myeloma is bone and back pain that persists and progresses, despite the use of painkillers. Other symptoms can include weight loss, fatigue, malaise and increased frequency of infections over several months.

Multiple Myeloma is mainly found in people in their mid-60s and is slightly more common in men. The disease is very rare in young people with just 2% of cases arising in those under 40 years.

Ann, who is a board member of MMI, said her first symptoms presented as shoulder pain when she was 51. She initially thought it was a tennis injury made worse by a minor fall while skiing. She had also lost a little weight, and was struggling with fatigue, which she had put down to menopause symptoms.

When a small lump developed on her collar bone, her physiotherapist suggested she present to the emergency department of her local hospital where she had several tests and was diagnosed.

“I had a stem cell harvest and transplant in December 2016. I relapsed 20 months later, which was a big disappointment, but had a second transplant in 2019 with donor cells from my brother,” Ann recounted. “I began to realise that knowing as much as possible about the disease and treatment options was becoming more and more important as I would have vital decisions to make.” Ann suffered a huge tragedy in August 2022 when her husband, Mick, died following a road accident when he was training for a cycle race to raise funds for MMI. Incredibly, Ann found the strength to carry on.

“I am still on ongoing treatment. As a result, the longest break I have had from hospital visits since 2020 has been a month,” she said. “I have remained under the expert care of my team at Saint James’ Hospital. I have tolerated my treatments pretty well with few side effects. I believe this was because I tried to maintain some level of fitness and stay as active as possible through my whole journey. Of course I’ve had to adapt. For example I retired earlier than I had planned, and I’ve had to alter and change my sports and exercise regimes, but these changes opened other doors.

“My family and friends have been so supportive and I am appealing to everyone in Kildare to sign up to ‘Miles for Myeloma’ which is aimed at raising funds for Multiple Myeloma research, and to raise awareness of the disease.” For more information, visit idonate.ie.