A Wolverhampton nurse who blamed her active lifestyle and busy family life for her constant colds and fatigue has been diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer. Katie Haywood, 46, also made excuses for her shortness of breath and unexplained bruising, not realising these were signs of a serious condition.
In June last year, Katie was diagnosed with myeloma, a type of blood cancer, and was already in end-stage kidney failure. She was just days away from collapse. Reflecting on her symptoms, Katie said: "There were a lot of separate little things but I made excuses for all my symptoms. I always found a reason. I was tired but I was working full-time as a nurse, teaching yoga twice a week and I was playing football. I was getting out of puff and I struggled to take the stairs up the multi-storey carpark at work but I had had a chest infection and a cold that took a while to shake off. Now I know it’s because I was severely anaemic, something I would spot in someone else straightaway."
Three months before her diagnosis, Katie noticed a large bruise on her arm that looked like a hematoma. She assumed she had been elbowed during football, but the bruise persisted. "I had no idea at the time that it was because of low platelets," she said. Eventually, blood tests at work revealed alarming results. Within an hour, she was told the tests had to be redone, and when confirmed, she was admitted to hospital immediately. "I just went to work as normal and never left. My kidney function was only eight, I was in end stage renal failure. I was severely anaemic which explained the shortness of breath and had very low platelets. My consultant said I had a week or so and then I would have collapsed and come in as an emergency. The hardest part was that it was my daughter’s birthday the next day."
Four days later, Katie was formally diagnosed with myeloma. "It was a shock. When I had the blood tests done, I thought I maybe had a B12 deficiency, you don’t think something could be so wrong. There’s a dark time when you think, am I going to die now? You think, how do I tell my kids? Your heart breaks for them." She started chemotherapy immediately and underwent a stem cell transplant in November 2025. Now, a year on, Katie is in remission and her kidney function has improved, though it is not what it once was. She will soon begin maintenance drugs to keep the cancer at bay. "In your mind you think, how long do I have before it comes back? It’s hard to get your head around. The transplant was hard but it was successful so it’s all been worth it. I’m still a long way off any kind of normality but I’m feeling hopeful for the future."
Katie is now supporting Myeloma UK’s Know the Warning Signs campaign to help others spot the tell-tale symptoms earlier. "Getting diagnosed early makes a big difference to people. So think about the bigger picture. There’s a reason for something. You need to think deeper and put two and two together. You shouldn’t be struggling, it’s not normal." Myeloma affects more than 35,000 people in the UK and is the third most common blood cancer, but it is frequently missed due to vague symptoms like back pain, fatigue, and recurring infections. The charity has created a symptom translator to aid conversations with GPs. Dr Sophie Castell, the charity's chief executive, said: "You wouldn’t ignore a red light on the road or a caution sign on a freshly-mopped floor, so why ignore the warning signs that your body sends you? Myeloma has one of the longest times to diagnosis of any cancer. One of the biggest barriers remains identifying and piecing together the symptoms quickly and before too much damage is done."
Key symptoms of myeloma
- Persistent or unexplained pain for more than 4-6 weeks, particularly in the back or ribs
- Tiredness that doesn’t improve with rest (fatigue)
- Frequent or hard-to-clear infections
- Easily broken bones or unexpected fractures
- Experiencing either frequent urination or minimal to no urination
- Swollen legs or abdomen
- Nosebleeds or unexplained bleeding or bruising
- Unexplained weight loss
- Numbness in the feet, hands, or legs
- Unexplained shortness of breath
