Nottinghamshire woman's warning after broken hip revealed cancer

Helen Livingston said treatment has given her more time to spend with her husband and and wider family

A woman has described how she found she had incurable blood cancer only after being rushed to hospital with an injured hip.

Helen Livingston said her diagnosis came "out of the blue" when she went in for treatment on a bone fracture.

The Nottinghamshire grandmother had attributed early signs something might be seriously wrong to the demands of her career as a teacher.

Now she is helping raise awareness of the importance of early treatment.

'Out of the blue'

Mrs Livingston, from East Leake, began to suffer tiredness and an aching hip in 2014 and when the pain became unbearable she had to go to accident and emergency.

Tests showed the damage to her hip had been caused by myeloma - a blood cancer that is treatable but cannot be cured.

The Myeloma UK charity said early blood tests can identify the disease and potentially help prevent related complications like broken bones.

The 66-year-old said: "I went to the hospital with a fractured hip and came out with cancer.

"The diagnosis was the hardest because it came out of the blue.

"I had the pain but no infections or any of the other symptoms.

"I always say I'm glad my hip broke because it could have taken a long time before it got picked up otherwise. Being told it was incurable just freaks you out."

Mrs Livingston had a hip replacement but was unable to return to work and had to retire early.

She received a stem cell transplant in 2014 and has been in remission since and has regular health checks.

"I know it will come back but, when it does, I know there are so many more treatments now," she said.

She added her treatment had allowed her to spend more time with her husband Andy, her sons and grandchildren.

Myeloma UK said it had invested £19m in researching new drugs which it said had increased life expectancy for patients.