Eric Dillon, a Houston father and husband, thought the pain he had been feeling in his shoulder was no more than a strained rotator cuff. He visited an orthopedic clinic and was advised to undergo physical therapy, which seemed to have helped. It wasn't until a burst of "tremendous pain" while doing yard work in May 2024 that he went back to the orthopedist for answers.
After undergoing an MRI, what turned up was something far more serious than just muscle strain. Dillon was referred to an oncologist, something he wasn't familiar with at the time. "I walked in, and she was like, 'You know why you're here?'" Dillon said to CBS news. "I was like, 'I've got a referral from another doctor to see you.' She was like, 'I'm an orthopedic oncologist ... I do cancer.' I was like, 'Wait, what?'" he shared.
Tests confirmed Dillon had multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. His wife quickly booked an appointment at MD Anderson Cancer Center, where further tests confirmed the diagnosis and led to a treatment plan.
Multiple Myeloma: Commonly Masked and Misdiagnosed as an Injury
According to Dr. Hearn Cho, an oncologist and chief medical officer of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, multiple myeloma originates in plasma cells and can impair normal blood formation, leading to anemia, kidney damage, and elevated calcium levels. The disease also damages hard bone tissue directly, which is what caused the pain in Dillon's shoulder.
Cho said it's common for multiple myeloma to be mistaken for a routine injury, since bone pain is one of its most common early symptoms and overlaps heavily with everyday aches. He noted that when the spine is involved, myeloma often causes back pain, but back pain is already one of the most frequent complaints doctors see, so cancer is rarely the first suspicion. That overlap, he said, is part of why the disease can take a long time to diagnose correctly.
According to MayoClinic and Cleveland Clinic, other symptoms may include the following:
- Fatigue and weakness (often from anemia)
- Frequent infections
- Numbness or tingling in arms and legs
- Thirst
- Unexplained weight loss
- Lack of appetite
- Difficulty with focusing
Determining the Diagnosis
The diagnostic process of multiple myeloma typically involves blood and urine tests, imaging like an MRI or X-ray, and a bone marrow biopsy to confirm abnormal plasma cells, while treatment can include chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation, stem cell transplants, or clinical trials, with many patients achieving long-term remission.
Leave No Stone Unturned
Any person with persistent or unexplained bone pain that doesn't improve with rest, physical therapy, or typical treatment should raise it with a doctor directly and ask if blood work or imaging could rule out causes beyond a muscle or joint injury, especially if the pain recurs over months or years.
Multiple Myeloma and Its Alarmingly Unique Statistic
Prior to Dillon's diagnosis, he was already familiar with the disease, with his cousin having been treated for it in the early 2000s, and a college friend's recent diagnosis. He also learned that the disease disproportionately affects Black Americans, who make up roughly 4% of the U.S. population but around 20% of multiple myeloma patients, and who tend to develop it earlier in life, according to Cho.
After his diagnosis, Dillon began treatment and soon joined a clinical trial, which helped give him better control and understanding. He completed eight cycles of treatment over nearly a year, adjusting his work schedule around it and keeping a daily journal of the process, while adjusting his dosage along the way for minor side effects. Radiation later cleared the remaining cancer in his shoulder bone, ending years of pain. He's now in remission, attending regular follow-ups and taking a daily maintenance medication.
Taking Caution May Bring a Hopeful Future
Dillon's story is a useful reminder that common, everyday symptoms like a sore shoulder or an aching back can occasionally point to something far more serious, and that persistent pain unexplained by a clear injury is worth a second look rather than being written off indefinitely. As Cho put it, doctors reasonably default to the most common explanations first, which means diagnoses like multiple myeloma can take years to surface even when the warning signs were there all along.
The case also highlights a significant health equity issue: Black Americans face a dramatically disproportionate burden of multiple myeloma, both in how often they're diagnosed and how early in life it strikes, yet remain historically underrepresented in the clinical trials shaping the disease's treatment. Dillon's decision to participate in a trial and his advocacy for greater awareness and diverse trial participation afterward speak directly to that gap.
Finally, Dillon's outcome offers a hopeful counterpoint to the fear a cancer diagnosis understandably provokes. Now in remission, he's emphasized that multiple myeloma is not an untreatable disease and that patients today have real options, including trials that continue to improve outcomes for those diagnosed after him.
