Kerry Baggott saw her husband Jeremy lift a suitcase from under the bed and never imagined it would be the beginning of a heartbreaking journey for her family.
Jeremy had a stabbing pain in his back, but being a ‘fit and healthy’ 46-year-old, the couple thought it was something that would go away.
But the pain worsened and became constant, forcing Jeremy to use an inverter machine for years — hanging upside down to relieve the pain.
Mother of two Kerry, 50, who lives in Dorset with her two children Charlotte, 15, and Emily, 13, said the loving father and husband were getting a few scans, which showed there was a weakness in his back.
But that weakness turned out to be a deadly cancer of multiple myeloma, which affects around 24,000 people in the UK and ultimately led to Jeremy’s death.
It is the third most common form of blood cancer and is especially difficult to detect because symptoms, including back pain, are often dismissed as aging.
Now, nearly a year after Jeremy died, Kerry said the back pain in 2015 could have been the start of Jeremy’s battle with blood cancer.
She said the couple ran the Dubai half marathon on their wedding anniversary in December 2017 and Jeremy seemed fine.
Kerry said she would do anything to have one more day with the love of her life Jeremy.Facebook
Kerry told The Sun: “He really was the strongest he’d ever been. He just had a bit of a bad back which we thought was normal for someone his age.”
Shortly after the marathon, Kerry said that Jeremy was going to play golf for the day.
“He was a terrible golfer and when he went for a swing he had shooting pains going through him,” she said.
The doctors thought he had just sprained some muscles, but the pain continued into the new year, so Jeremy had blood tests and MRI scans done.
At this point, his ribs started to “feel spongy.”
“He had a lump on his collarbone, pain in his arms and shoulders, and had loads of MRIs that showed nothing serious,” Kerry said.
Sadly, he unexpectedly relapsed in September 2020 and died just two months later with Kerry and their daughters by his side on November 27. facebook
But in February 2018, Kerry felt there was a glimmer of hope for her husband.
“I remember picking up the girls at the school gate and Jeremy called me after his appointment.
“He told me the doctors thought he had some kind of arthritis. I remember the words that came out of my mouth, I said ‘we’ll take that, it’s not like it’s leukemia or anything’.
“He was on strong steroids and as the weeks went on it was literally like watching a man fall apart.
“It was horrible, he had huge sores on his tongue and within days he couldn’t even have a cup of tea,” Kerry said.
Another hospital MRI then discovered gaping holes in his body, and Kerry said it looked like the bone on his right arm had disappeared.
“Then we found out it was myeloma. Cancer cells had burst through the bones and it was as if his bones were leaking water pipes.”
By the time Jeremy was finally diagnosed in March 2018, he had a broken collarbone, six broken ribs, numerous infections and the bone in his upper right arm had completely disintegrated.
The family picked up their lives in Dubai and moved back to the UK.
Kerry said she would do anything to have one more day with the love of her life Jeremy.Facebook
Jeremy underwent surgery, radiation therapy, grueling chemotherapy cycles, and a stem cell transplant.
For a while, he bounced back, giving his family renewed hope that they could enjoy a few more precious years together.
Sadly, he unexpectedly relapsed in September 2020 and died just two months later with Kerry and their daughters by his side on November 27.
Kerry said: “Due to Covid, we were denied our place in a clinical trial. It’s an incredibly sad situation for us because he was so young and the girls lost their father when they were so young. Our world was shattered and our hearts broken forever.
“While life is incredibly painful right now – and probably always will be to some degree – me and the girls are determined that, for Jeremy, we have to live our best lives or myeloma has killed us too and it doesn’t deserve the privilege.”
Kerry and her girls are now raising money for Myeloma UK, a blood cancer charity, and want others to be aware of the symptoms of cancer before it’s too late.
She said: “Jeremy and I had been together for 30 years and he was – is – the love of my entire life.
“It may be too late to help Jeremy, but it’s not too late for others. It is my dream that one day a cure will be found for this horrific disease that tore my family apart. Meanwhile, I can’t sit back and do nothing.
“Fundraising has helped our grief to some extent. We feel like we are creating something positive out of something so negative. And it helps us keep his memory alive.
“Jeremy was such a fun and positive man; we want to continue in that spirit if we can. ”
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