“My blood cancer was released as a pulled muscle.”

A former footballer told how he was in a “complete shock” after being diagnosed with blood cancer – after first believing, the pain came from a drawn muscle.

Myeloma was diagnosed in Mel Tottoh after months of rib and back pain.

Freckleton’s three -member father in Lancashire went to the GP after feeling a “scorching pain” who felt that he had made a swing on the golf course in 2021.

“When I was diagnosed, I had fire-fighting bones in my ribs, thighs, spine and skull,” said the 68-year-old, who played for Preston North End in the 1980s.

He said he had Twinges in his ribs for a year and a half before his diagnosis.

When the pain got worse in mid -2020, he consulted his family doctor, who told him that he had probably pulled a muscle and the Twinges would sort himself.

“It continued for months to be quite weak,” he recalled.

“It has reached a point where it had a real influence on my life.”

After blood tests, myeloma was diagnosed in August 2021.

“With this there was a complete shock,” he said.

“My father had died of cancer and then, in the past 12 years, two of my brothers died of cancer. I thought it was the end.”

But the Blackpool Victoria Hospital team is “incredible,” he said.

Mr. Tottoh had radiation therapy to treat the damage to his bones.

He then had chemotherapy, followed by a stem cell transplantation and has been in remission since November 2022.

In the meantime, the support of family and friends was invaluable, he said.

“It takes a small army to bring her through this ordeal,” said Mr. Tottoh, who still has a preservation treatment to keep his cancer in chess as long as possible.

“The most important thing is to have people in their corner now, people who take care of, people who lift them up when they are below.

“My family and closest friends did that.”

Almost five years after his diagnosis, Mr. Tottoh is now decided to remember Nine with his family and grandson Theo.

“My way of thinking is really positive,” he said.

“I will see how my grandson goes to the university and marries – if he wants to do that. I’ll see how my children fulfill their dreams.

“At the moment I’m in a great place and I’m on the way to live with myeloma for a very long time.”

He said that if someone is not sure about symptoms he could have, you should visit the doctor.

“Nobody knows their body better than her, so they own him,” he said.

• Myeloma is an incurable blood cancer that occurs in the bone marrow
• Although it is the third most common type of blood cancer
• While it is incurable, myeloma can be treated in most cases
• Treatment can lead to remission times, but the cancer will inevitably come back

Source Myeloma UK