Matthew Padley, 60, has spoken about his battle with myeloma and praised staff at the Christie Cancer Centre at Tameside Hospital, which has received an award for its outstanding care
A man from Greater Manchester has told how he had shrunk by two inches in height by the time he was diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer.
Matthew Padley, a 60-year-old electrical draughtsman from Hyde, began suffering from back spasms in September 2022. He said he dismissed the pain and treated it with paracetamol and ibuprofen until January the following year, when he was told the damage to his back was likely caused by early onset osteoporosis.
It wasn’t until May 2023 that Matthew was diagnosed with myeloma, a blood cancer that affects over 33,000 people in the UK. By then, it had already caused serious damage to his spine and bones.
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“It came as a shock,” Matthew told Manchester Evening News. “It took a while to get my head around it. To be told it’s incurable is hard. I have lost two inches in height because of the damage.”
Discussing the ordeal of his diagnosis, Matthew told the outlet that in January he booked an appointment with a physiotherapist at his GP surgery, who referred him for an X-ray. He recalled: “I went for the X-ray and the radiologist said my back was broken.
“He showed me the image of my spine and it was a mess. He asked if I’d fallen over. The only thing I could think of is that I was thrown off my seat on a bus in Australia back in 2020 and I came down with a thump.”
Tests confirmed several months later that Matthew had myeloma, which makes up around 15 per cent of blood cancers and 2 per cent of all cancers, according to Myeloma UK. The charity says around one in two people with the condition wait more than five months for a correct diagnosis.
Myeloma can be hard to spot because symptoms are often vague and mistaken for ageing or minor conditions. By the time many patients are diagnosed, the disease has often advanced and requires urgent treatment, which can have a major impact on their survival and quality of life, Myeloma UK says.
Soon after his diagnosis, Matthew underwent chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant. His first dose left him covered in hives, struggling to see properly and with dangerously low blood pressure that required oxygen. He was hospitalised three times last winter with infections.
“Mentally, it puts a strain on you,” he said. “It’s been really hard on my wife, Diane, and my family. People forget how much it affects the people around you.”
While Matthew still suffers from fatigue and irreversible damage to his back, he is now in remission. He said his body “responded to treatment as well as they could expect”.
“You can’t just ignore myeloma sadly, but you can put it at the back of your mind,” he said. “We’ve officially called March 12, 2024, my remission date and that’s what I focus on. That’s my mark saying, the myeloma had been put to sleep. It will rear its head at some point, but hopefully I can get many years with it before it comes back.”
Now, Matthew, who has been a Scout Leader for 30 years, is determined to live life to the fullest. “Whilst I was having my treatment, I took a leave of absence to keep myself safe, but I’m now back with a vengeance doing the volunteering that I enjoy,” said Matthew, who supports Myeloma UK, Macmillan and The Christie Charity.
“It felt like our wings were clipped in 2023 but now, as a couple, we can plan holidays again and go where we want when we want. I can’t do anything that will impact my back but we’ve been able to live as normal a life as possible. You can’t let myeloma define you,” he added.
Matthew thanked his wife and family for their support, along with staff at The Christie Cancer Centre at Tameside Hospital, who treated him over the past year. The centre has been recognised with a national award for its care of patients living with myeloma, which claims around 3,000 lives in the UK each year. Staff were presented with the Myeloma UK Clinical Service Excellence Programme Award on Tuesday.
“The Christie at Tameside Hospital are truly deserving of this award and I congratulate all their hard work,” Matthew said. “The nursing staff and doctors are faultless – they just give you that level of reassurance. You need help coping with everything. Knowing that you’ve got a team with you, it really helps. What they do means a heck of a lot to people like me.”
Rhys Owens, Senior Clinical Practice Officer at Myeloma UK, said: “Myeloma is a challenging cancer which keeps coming back and can be difficult to cope with both physically and mentally, so patients really need a caring team in their corner. It’s very clear that staff at the Christie Cancer Centre go the extra mile every day to help patients navigate treatment and the reality of living with an incurable cancer.
“They provide invaluable support and are always on hand to signpost other services, lend an ear and offer advice to patients and their loved ones. Staff also work closely with the local Rapid Diagnostic Centre to make sure people receive the right tests promptly, get diagnosed with myeloma as early as possible and start treatment sooner.”
