A Blairgowrie man has spoken of how he has fought back from the shock of being diagnosed with myeloma.
Train driver Andrew Millington, 42, was told he had the bone cancer in April 2021.
The condition is incurable but regular treatment can prolong life.
Andrew is now back at work and planning to walk the Cateran Trail for charity.
Picture of health
As with many cancer patients, Andrew was a picture of health when he was diagnosed.
A veteran of several marathons and with a personal best of three hours 33 minutes, he cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats over 10 days in 2012.
He often played badminton for the Blairgowrie and Alyth clubs, and regularly walked Amber, his Hungarian Vizsla.
“I had gone seven years without a day off sick,” Andrew said.
But his condition seemed to unravel after a bad crash in 2016.
Andrew had just driven past Guildtown on the A93 towards Blairgowrie when he swerved into a tree to avoid a deer.
He was left with whiplash and also a sequence of health problems that took a long time to heal.
Andrew had shingles, ulcers, nose bleeds and infections including on his fingers.
“Nothing was clearing up,” he said.
Hit hard with Covid
In February 2021 he picked up Covid and was hit much harder than his wife Helen, 42, and children George, 6, and Rebecca, 4.
“It put me off work for five weeks,” Andrew said.
“I was coughing up blood.
“I went back to work for a week but had a really bad back.
“I didn’t know what was going on.
“I was trying to go out for walks with the dog but was very slow and needed to sit down after 10 minutes.
“The last day I was in at work I couldn’t even open a train door.
“It’s just a switch you turn – that’s it – but I was lying on the platform.
“It was embarrassing.”
Trauma of diagnosis
After seeing the doctor Andrew can remember the very date – April 14 2021 – that he was diagnosed with myeloma.
“It was a traumatic day,” he said. “It is something you don’t expect,
“I was very upset.
“I couldn’t talk about it without welling up and I still get emotional about it now.
“It is just that word – cancer.
“You just think ‘game over’ – but you can live with it.
“Now you wouldn’t even know anything is wrong with me.”
Ninewells stay and months of treatment
This is because he has been prepared to put himself through some tough treatments.
Andrew grew up in Cumbria and served with the RAF, arriving in Leuchars in 2006.
Two years later he began working for ScotRail as a driver based out of Perth and regularly has to begin shifts at 5am.
But these hardships pale in comparison to what he has endured in chemotherapy.
After a 16-week programme of Velcade, Andrew spent four weeks in Ninewells last autumn for stem cell treatment.
Both are relatively new therapeutics but Andrew is not concerned.
“If it’s there I’ll take it and the doctors know what to do,” he said.
“At Ninewells it was getting quite miserable being there all the time.
“It was uncomfortable and I didn’t want to eat because of throwing up.
“I also couldn’t see anyone because of Covid restrictions.
“It felt like it was never ending.”
Perseverance pays off
Andrew’s perseverance and discomfort seems to have paid off.
He is now only taking low-level maintenance tablets so can live life as normal.
He has support in the form of workmate Bob Tocher, a conductor who was coincidentally diagnosed with the same disease in early 2021.
Andrew also regularly attends meetings of the Perth Myeloma Support Group, run by Linda Winton and Mary Kenney at the city’s Baptist church.
Sponsors wanted for Cateran trail challenge
He now wants to give something back by raising money for Myeloma UK.
Andrew is planning to walk all 64 miles of the Cateran Trail over three days from Friday, April 21 2023.
He is undertaking training walks with friends from the badminton club, some of whom will join him on the challenge.
“When we finish on the Sunday we will hopefully have a ceilidh somewhere with stovies and a raffle.
“I want people to know that it is not all over when you get cancer.
“They are always working on new treatments.
“I have taken a lot out of the NHS with medications and I just want to give something back.
“If anyone can help me by sponsoring my walk that would be great.”
To get involved or make a cash donation, contact the planning team at andrewscateranwalk@gmail.com or on 07769347145.
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