Man, 68, Gets Treated for Constipation and Dies a Month Later: 'He Didn't Get to Enjoy One Day of Retirement'
Ronnie Haston began to feel ill toward the end of March 2024, but his doctor dismissed the 68-year-old's symptoms as constipation, gave him laxatives, and told him to wait two weeks for blood work
Two weeks later, he was admitted to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with the blood cancer myeloma and began treatment — but died on April 6, 2024
His stepdaughter is now running a marathon to raise money for blood cancer researchA man who was treated for constipation died just weeks later — after his health issues were discovered to be a symptom of the blood cancer myeloma.
Ronnie Haston, 68, was struggling with muscle weakness, fatigue and constipation in March 2024, but when he sought medical help, he was simply given laxatives and told to wait two weeks for a blood test. But his health quickly declined, said his stepdaughter Beth Hunt, according to The Daily Mail.
"He just didn't look right,' said Hunt, who lives in the Scottish village of East Calder.
His wife, Anne, rushed Haston, who ran a hearing device company, to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with the blood cancer myeloma.
Myeloma starts in the white blood cells, or plasma, according to the Mayo Clinic, and causes cancerous cells to accumulate in bone marrow. There, 'the cancer cells crowd out healthy blood cells," the Mayo Clinic says, explaining, "rather than make helpful antibodies, the cancer cells make proteins that don't work right,' which leads to complications.
The diagnosis, Hunt said, was 'a complete shock to us all,' per The Daily Mail.
'He was fit and healthy, he had no underlying health conditions,' she said, adding that doctors told the family they had a 'full plan' for treatment, which included chemotherapy, radiation and a possible stem cell transplant.
But after just two rounds of chemotherapy, he developed pneumonia, and within two days had died on April 6, 2024, from multiple organ failure.
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'He didn't get to enjoy one day of retirement with my mum or do any of the future they had planned together,' said Hunt, who is now running a marathon to raise funds for research against the blood cancer.
'I think of Ronnie and my mum when I run. The last year without him has been awful for her,' she said. '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.'
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