'Fit and healthy' dad dies two weeks on from cancer diagnosis after doctors dismissed symptoms as 'constipation'
A stepdad sadly passed away from cancer, just weeks after his diagnosis.
Beth Hunt, 42, from the UK, lost her stepdad Ronnie Haston in April last year, two weeks after he was admitted to hospital with concerning symptoms.
Ronnie was 68 and had been suffering after suddenly becoming unwell weeks earlier.
Despite visiting the doctor, Ronnie's symptoms were put down to constipation and he was offered a blood test two weeks later.
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But unfortunately, while waiting for the tests, Ronnie's condition deteriorated and his partner, Anne, took him to the emergency room.
At hospital, tests showed his kidney function had plummeted to just 14 per cent. Meanwhile, Ronnie had extremely high calcium levels.
“It was two weeks from admission to hospital until he died," said Beth.
"He was fit and healthy, he had no underlying health conditions.
"It was a complete shock to us all. He didn’t get to enjoy one day of retirement with my mum or do any of the future they had planned together.
"It started with constipation, which the GP gave him laxatives for. He was really fatigued and had muscle pain.
"He just didn’t look right."
Ronnie was diagnosed with myeloma, a form of blood cancer, but sadly died after becoming unwell with pneumonia.
“They’d said he would start chemo and they had a full plan,” said Beth.
“They said he would be a good candidate for a stem cell transplant.
"He ended up having two lots of chemo whist very unwell with pneumonia and then two days later he died.
"He pretty much went into multi-organ failure. It’s shocking, completely shocking.
“It’s not people’s fault, it’s the system’s fault. The catalogue of errors, the wait.
"We kept saying, ‘He needs a blood test’, but he couldn’t get a blood test for two weeks.
"In this day and age how is that acceptable?
"If somebody is unwell, you need the blood test now. Even in hospital, it was all too little too late.
“The big thing for me is educating GPs. The symptoms of myeloma are sometimes non-descript and not obvious.
"You could put them down to muscle ache and being tired, but these should be red flags for a GP, especially in someone with no underlying conditions and having never been to a GP apart from with cellulitis from mosquito bites.
"If Ronnie hadn’t been so unwell by the time he got into hospital, he would have been in a better position to fight it."
Beth will be running the Edinburgh Marathon in memory of Ronnie, raising money for Myeloma UK.
“I signed up to the Edinburgh Marathon on the evening of Ronnie’s funeral," she said.
"When I ran a 10-mile eight years ago, mum and Ronnie were my biggest supporters.
"They ran across Edinburgh to meet me at as many points as they could.
“It’s my first marathon, but when I decide to do something I do it.
“I know I can do at least half but I’ll probably have to push through the last six miles.
"I think of Ronnie and my mum when I run – the last year without him has been awful for her.
"If she can wake up without him and can put one foot in front of the other then I can take it one step at a time too."
Beth paid tribute to Ronnie, who had been part of her life since she was 19.
"You don’t realise the impact someone had until you lose them," she said.
"He was a gentle man. He was always someone you could lean on. He’d never judge, he’d always support you and just show up."
You can visit Beth's JustGiving page here.
Lucy Devine