Doctors ‘thought blood cancer was menopause’

MOTHER-OF-FIVE who was told to double her hormone replacement therapy (HRT) treatment after her incurable cancer symptoms were mistaken for peri-menopause has said her diagnosis still feels like “a dream’:

- ELEANOR FLEMING

> Crystal Portsmouth with her husband Scott and, left, during treatment. She is now looking forward to Christmas with her grandson Roman, both pictured below

(Collect/PA Real Life)

Crystal Portsmouth, 50, from Wiltshire, had suffered chronic anaemia, painful periods and exhaustion for years, but said she was told by her GP this was due to fibroids - noncancerous growths in or around the womb.

‘The social care practitioner was told to try the Mirena coil to alleviate the heavy bleeding during her periods, and was prescribed iron tablets for anaemia, but her symptoms persisted and the coil caused urinary tract infections (UTIs).

‘After the coil was removed, Crystal said her GP thought her symptoms were perimenopause-related and she was prescribed HRT, which she was told to double later on - but when she collapsed at work in April 2023, she knew it was something more serious.

‘After blood tests, scans and a bone marrow biopsy, it was revealed she had a myeloma, an incurable blood

cancer, in July 2024, and her treatment has so far involved intensive chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.

Crystal is in remission and undergoing maintenance chemotherapy, but she has joined blood cancer charity Myeloma UK’s Christmas Appeal in a bid to help get people diagnosed sooner.

Speaking about her diagnosis, she told PA Real Life: “I just couldn't believe it, and I still don’t believe it.

“Every day when you wake up, you think it’s a dream and it’s real. A few times we've said, ‘When are we going to wake up?’

“When I look back through my NHS app, you think, crikey, it’s screaming out... but (the signs of myeloma) were never picked up.

“T'd say to others, learn to listen to your body and push for answers if you think something's not right.”