Michelle Williams’ swelling and high blood pressure led to rare diagnosis

Michelle Williams watched her blood pressure climb while swelling moved from her feet to her ankles and legs, forcing her to buy larger shoes. Testing at the Cleveland Clinic identified multiple myeloma. The mother of two initially brushed off the changes as stress during the pandemic, when she and her husband were renovating a farmhouse, and her doctor first recommended only minor lifestyle changes.

Williams was fatigued, waking up to use the bathroom more often, and in June 2023 a nephrology visit left her without an answer after a physician assistant told her to lower her blood pressure and come back in six months. Williams said she left that appointment feeling that something was wrong and that she had not been taken seriously.

In July 2023, Williams sent her records and a plea for help to the Cleveland Clinic, where she was scheduled for two full days of appointments. Blood work alarmed the nephrologist, and bone marrow and kidney biopsies followed within 24 hours. Tests showed abnormalities in her urine and bone marrow, leading to a diagnosis of multiple myeloma, a cancer of abnormal plasma cells that build up in the bone marrow and can cause kidney problems. Williams then spent nearly six months on chemotherapy and immunotherapy.