Grandfather Dismissed His Shoulder Pain As a Strain—Then Doctors Found Multiple Myeloma: Why Ongoing Bone Pain Shouldn’t Be Ignored

CBS News reports that his pain was initially treated as a rotator cuff injury before worsening pain prompted additional imaging that ultimately led to a diagnosis of multiple myeloma and treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

RELATED: Multiple Myeloma — Dealing With the Initial Diagnosis

Unlike many forms of cancer, multiple myeloma is rare, which can make the diagnosis surprising. It is also typically treated as a chronic condition that requires ongoing care.

“It’s what’s known as a treatable cancer, not a curable cancer,” said Sarah Kelly, an Oncology Social Worker at Cancer Care, previously told SurvivorNet. “So someone with multiple myeloma can have a meaningful life, can live their life to the best of their abilities, but will always be in treatment in some shape or form.”

Initially, Dillon’s orthopedic doctor diagnosed him with a strained rotator cuff, and his pain eased after physical therapy and stretching. For the next two years, he managed occasional discomfort, noting that adjusting his sleep position or scaling back activity usually helped.

It wasn’t until May 2024, when Dillon felt sudden “tremendous pain” while working in his yard and decided to go back to his orthopedist [a physician who focuses on diagnosing and treating conditions involving muscles, bones, and joints], who ordered an MRI and referred him to an orthopedic oncologist.

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He ultimately took part in a clinical trial and is now in remission. A clinical trial is a research study that involves volunteers to evaluate new medications or treatments, and it may provide patients with early access to promising new therapies.

“Being in a clinical trial, to me, was a plus. It made me feel a lot better. It gave me a little more control and more understanding of what was going on,” Dillon told CBS News.

Multiple Myeloma & Bone Health: What You Need to Know

Once the clinical trial, which entailed eight cycles over the course of one year, concluded, Dillon learned there was still cancer in his shoulder bone.

To get rid of the remaining cancer, he underwent more rounds of radiation.

“It was just tremendous to be pain-free and moving forward,” he told CBS News. “Now, everything is beautiful.”

RELATED: Dr. Siddhartha Ganguly explains long-term side effects of multiple myeloma.

Now in remission, Dillon continues regular checkups with his oncologist and takes daily medication to help keep his cancer under control.

He may consider a stem cell transplant in the future, but he is postponing it for now to focus on his recovery journey. He’s also prioritizing family time and his new grandchild.

Dillon hopes his journey reassures other patients with the same cancer that there is real hope and that meaningful opportunities still exist while managing the condition.

“This is not one of those cancers that there’s no treatment for. The future is bright,” he concluded.

Explaining Maintenance Therapy

Understanding Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma is a rare and incurable type of blood cancer. When you have this cancer, white blood cells called plasma cells (the cells that make antibodies to fight infections) in your bone marrow grow out of proportion to healthy cells. Those abnormal cells leave less room for the healthy blood cells your body needs to fight infections. They can also spread to other parts of your body and cause problems with organs like your kidneys.

Patient Education is Key — Head of Hematology at Johnson & Johnson On Getting Multiple Myeloma Patients Access to Good Information & Care
RELATED: When Multiple Myeloma Returns, SurvivorNet’s Resources

Sometimes, doctors find multiple myeloma while doing a blood test to look for another condition or when trying to find out what’s causing a patient’s unexplained symptoms.

RELATED: ‘First Study of its Kind’ Shows Diet Can Delay Progression of Cancer — Understanding Multiple Myeloma & The Diseases That Precede It

Doctors use blood and urine tests and imaging tests, such as X-rays or MRIs, to help diagnose multiple myeloma and to guide treatment options. Ultimately, a bone marrow biopsy will confirm the diagnosis.

RELATED: Hematologist and SurvivorNet advisor, Dr. Nina Shah, helps you understand this rare cancer

Multiple myeloma symptoms can range from tiredness, nausea, and constipation. Other symptoms may include:

• Weakness, dizziness, and shortness of breath, which are signs of a low red blood cell count, are called anemia.
• Bone pain, which could be a sign of a fracture.
• Urinating too much or too little, muscle cramps, nausea, and vomiting are symptoms of kidney failure.
• Confusion is caused by too much calcium in the blood.
• Frequent infections because you have too few white blood cells to fight them.

It’s important to know that these symptoms could be attributed to other conditions. If you experience any of these symptoms or are concerned about any changes to your body, you should address them promptly with your doctor.

Hematologist-oncologist Dr. Adam Cohen lays out your options during the maintenance phase of treatment

Meanwhile, multiple myeloma does cause bone conditions. According to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, 85% of multiple myeloma patients have some kind of bone damage or loss.

“The most commonly affected areas are the spine, pelvis, and rib cage,” the Foundation explains.

The reason for this bone loss or damage is that multiple myeloma disrupts the bone remodeling process. The cancerous myeloma cells keep the cells in the bone responsible for removing old bone and rebuilding new bone from working properly.

The disease can also weaken the bone, resulting in fractures. And it can cause thinning of the bones, leading to osteoporosis [meaning the bones are more porous and more likely to fracture].

And “in advanced multiple myeloma, a patient may lose inches from his or her height due to compressed vertebrae over the course of their illness.”

So bone conditions can be a symptom of multiple myeloma.

RELATED: Why Do Some People With Cancer Experience Back or Bone Pain?

Getting a Diagnosis

Sometimes doctors find multiple myeloma while doing a blood test to look for another condition, or when trying to find out what’s causing a patient’s unexplained symptoms.

According to SurvivorNet’s experts, blood tests are also the way your doctor might learn that you have smoldering multiple myeloma or MGUS, because these conditions don’t usually cause symptoms. Smoldering multiple myeloma and MGUS aren’t cancer, but they can sometimes turn into cancer.

The odds that either condition will become cancer are very small, but to be safe, your doctor will probably check you more closely with blood and urine tests, and sometimes a bone marrow biopsy–removing and testing a small sample of the spongy material inside your bones. These tests can help monitor you for changes that signal you’ve switched over to multiple myeloma, and that you need to start treatment for this cancer. You may also need a bone marrow biopsy to help your doctor make the initial diagnosis.

Doctors use blood and urine tests and imaging tests, such as X-ray or MRI, to help diagnose multiple myeloma and to guide treatment options. Ultimately, a bone marrow biopsy will confirm the diagnosis.

Monitoring your bone strength and health over time will help your doctors understand how, or if, your disease is progressing.

WATCH: How to Address Racial Disparities in Cancer Care

Treatment Options For Multiple Myeloma

Not everyone with multiple myeloma needs treatment right away. If you have smoldering multiple myeloma, your doctor might simply monitor you regularly to see if your disease progresses.

If you develop symptoms or your doctor thinks you need treatment, there are many options.  Which of these treatments you receive, and how they are sequenced, depend on several factors, and on whether your treatment team thinks you are a good candidate for a bone marrow transplant.

Bone Marrow (Stem Cell) Transplant

This is also known as a stem cell transplant. It is a procedure to replace diseased bone marrow with healthy bone marrow without myeloma cells. Based on multiple factors, your doctor may decide that a stem cell transplant is best for you. The transplant process can be involved and requires multiple steps. Be sure to discuss this with your treating team to understand what is involved and what options are available.

If you’re not a good candidate for chemotherapy, your treatment options include targeted therapies, biologics, and steroids.

Targeted Therapy

Targeted therapy is now available for patients with multiple myeloma, and targets abnormalities in myeloma cells that allow the cancer to survive. Examples of targeted agents your doctor may use include bortezomib (Velcade), carfilzomib (Kyprolis), and ixazomib (Sarclisa). These drugs are either given in a pill or through an IV and cause myeloma cells to die by preventing the breakdown of certain proteins in myeloma cells. Your doctor may also use other targeted agents in the class of medications known as monoclonal antibodies.

Biologic Therapy

Biologic therapy is another class of medication your treatment team may use to treat your myeloma. These medications use your body’s immune system to help fight and kill myeloma cells. This class of medication is most often given in pill form and includes medications such as thalidomide (Thalidomid), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and pomalidomide (Pomalyst).

Chemotherapy

Sometimes your treatment team may recommend chemotherapy to treat your myeloma. Chemotherapy uses strong medicine to target cancer cells throughout your body. If your doctor recommends a bone marrow transplant, high doses of chemotherapy are used for this purpose.

Steroids

Occasionally, doctors may use corticosteroids such as dexamethasone or prednisone as part of your treatment. Steroids are different from chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and biologic therapy. They work to reduce inflammation throughout your body. Steroids are given as a pill and are also active against myeloma cells.

Radiation

Radiation uses high-dose X-rays to stop cancer cells from dividing. It is sometimes used to target myeloma in specific areas that may be causing you issues or pain. It is also used if there are tumors or deposits of myeloma cells that need to be treated, such as a plasmacytoma — a tumor made of abnormal plasma cells — of the bone.

Sometimes the cancer can return, or relapse, after treatment. If this happens, your doctor can put you on one of the treatments you’ve already tried again, try a new treatment, or recommend that you enroll in a clinical trial.

Any of these treatments can cause side effects, which may include nerve pain and fatigue. Your doctor can adjust your medication if you do have side effects. In general, you should start to feel better once your treatment starts to work.

“I lost five inches in height, but I beat multiple myeloma,” says survivor Anna Quigley.

Extending Your Lifespan With Multiple Myeloma

Then you’ll ultimately reach the maintenance phase of treatment. Now that your doctor has gotten your cancer under control, from here the goal is to keep your disease stable and to maintain your quality of life. The type of maintenance therapy you get and what prognosis you can expect will depend on whether your doctor determines that your multiple myeloma is standard risk or high risk.

One of SurvivorNet’s experts describes the maintenance process for this disease as similar to lawn care. Once you care for your lawn and it’s no longer overgrown (that’s the initial treatment), it will need some tending, but with that attention (such as low doses of maintenance drugs), it can remain healthy.

Why the many phases of multiple myeloma are like caring for your lawn, says hematologic cancer specialist, Dr. Sid Ganguly

Sometimes this disease will return, even when you’re on maintenance therapies. You’ll still have treatments available if this happens.

Though it can be daunting to choose treatments for relapsed multiple myeloma, the medical experts at SurvivorNet are here to help you make sense of them. Remember that you do have options, and that the goal, which becomes more achievable with each new treatment that’s introduced, is to preserve your quality of life and extend your lifespan.

Questions for Your Doctor

If you are facing a multiple myeloma diagnosis, here are some questions to help you begin the conversation with your doctor:

• What stage is my multiple myeloma?
• What are my treatment options?
• What are the possible side effects of your recommended treatment?
• Who will be part of my healthcare team, and what does each member do?
• Can you refer me to a social worker or psychologist who can help me cope with my diagnosis?

‘My Health Questions’ Helps You With Sudden Questions In Between Doctor Appointments

If you are diagnosed with skin cancer or another condition, you may have some questions ahead of your next doctor appointment. Make use of SurvivorNet’s proprietary AI resource “My Health Questions” to prepare you with strong questions for your care team.

“My Health Questions” was built specifically for the realities of cancer care experienced by patients and caregivers, and not as a general‑purpose chatbot.

It handles both complex clinical issues and everyday logistical concerns with accuracy, clarity, and personalization.

Users can create a tailored health profile by entering details such as age, gender, and location, allowing the platform to refine responses over time. This reflects SurvivorNet’s mission: pairing cutting‑edge technology with physician‑driven expertise to make complex medical information accessible and actionable.

Crucially, the tool is doctor‑supported. Leading oncology experts review the information to ensure it is accurate, safe, and easy to understand.

The goal is not to replace clinicians, but to help patients arrive at appointments better prepared with informed questions and a clearer understanding of their care journey.

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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