{"id":3462,"date":"2025-05-26T09:59:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T09:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/?p=3462"},"modified":"2025-05-28T21:34:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T21:34:08","slug":"my-stepdad-thought-he-was-constipated-two-weeks-later-he-was-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/26\/my-stepdad-thought-he-was-constipated-two-weeks-later-he-was-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"My stepdad thought he was constipated \u2014 two weeks later he was dead"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Beth\t<\/div>
Ronnie was a beloved husband to Anne and stepdad to Beth (Picture: Myeloma UK\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In March last year, 68-year-old Ronnie Haston was making plans to retire when he started feeling constipated.<\/p>\n

The fit and active business owner had no underlying health<\/a> conditions, so his GP ordered blood tests and prescribed laxatives to ease his digestion.<\/p>\n

But when the symptoms<\/a> didn’t let up – and he started experiencing muscle pain and fatigue<\/a> – Ronnie’s wife, Anne, took him to A&E.<\/p>\n

There, he was diagnosed with myeloma<\/a>, a form of blood cancer<\/a> affecting around 33,000 people across the UK. <\/p>\n

And two weeks after being admitted to hospital, he was dead.<\/p>\n

‘It was a complete shock to us all,’ said his devastated stepdaughter, Beth Hunt, 42. ‘He didn’t get to enjoy one day of retirement with my mum or do any of the future they had planned together.’<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Ronnie\t<\/div>
The 68-year-old died just two weeks after being admitted to hospital (Picture: Myeloma UK\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The nurse, from East Calder, recalled that in the weeks before his scheduled blood tests, Ronnie ‘just didn’t look right’. <\/p>\n

When her mum insisted on a visit to A&E, tests showed his kidney function had plummeted to just 14%, and he had extremely high calcium levels.<\/p>\n

Doctors drew up a treatment plan, telling Ronnie’s family he could be a good candidate for a stem cell transplant.<\/p>\n

However, Beth said: ‘He ended up having two lots of chemo while very unwell with pneumonia and then two days later he died.<\/p>\n

‘He pretty much went into multi-organ failure. It’s shocking, completely shocking.’<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\tSymptoms of myeloma\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n

According to Blood Cancer UK<\/a>, myeloma can be hard to spot, as symptoms typically build up over time or can be associated with other issues. However, they can include the following: <\/p>\n