A woman, who had a nasty hangover, was left horrified after discovering her symptoms were actually a sign of cancer – after her appendix ruptured.
When Amber Orr, from Ballymena, Northern Ireland, woke up in unbearable pain with extreme nausea, she, at first, thought it was just due to heavy drinking the night before.
But days later, it became evident that this was no hangover as the then 19-year-old’s mum took her daughter to hospital.
Doctors rushed her into the operating theatre for an emergency appendectomy in March 2019.
But the nightmare was far from over.
Two weeks later, the reason for the rupture was revealed – Amber had a cancerous neuroendocrine mass, a rare tumour that release hormones into the bloodstream, which was also present in her bowel.
“I had never thought I had cancer,” Amber, now 24, told Jam Press.
“I had been out partying with friends, so when I woke up feeling sick, I blamed it on being hungover.
“But as the day progressed, I realised it wasn’t a hangover.
“I kept getting this unbearable pain in my side and I was throwing up.
“After two days of this, my mum took me to the hospital.
“They monitored me overnight, suspecting a possible UTI.
“Another two days later, one of my doctors sent me to surgery because my appendix had ruptured.”
Amber was informed that she would require a second surgery to remove the rest of the tumour, and then chemotherapy to kill any surviving cells.
Speaking of the moment she received the news, two weeks after leaving hospital for the first surgery, she said: “I didn’t feel anything.
“It was more of a numbness… I didn’t properly digest the information until months later.
“Cancer is such a taboo word and subject and to hear it out loud is such a surreal thing.
“My diagnosis also happened so fast that I honestly didn’t have time to even think about what was happening to me until the whole thing was over.”
Thankfully, Amber’s second surgery, which took place in May 2019, and involved the removal of half of her bowel, eliminated the mass and she didn’t require further treatment.
She has had a few scares since, but no reoccurrences, and has now been in remission for four years.
The psychological scars, however, have been harder for the young woman to overcome.
She said: “I can’t count the number of hours I’ve spent crying and breaking down because of how cancer has made me feel.
“Whether that be physically, from the scars on my body, or mentally, from the anxiety and depression from treatment and fear of it returning.
“You don’t realise just how much cancer impacts your mental health.
“My mental health didn’t take a hit until after I was in remission.”
Amber is now using her experience to raise awareness of the long-term effects of cancer and the importance of early detection.
She said: “If my appendix hadn’t burst, I wouldn’t have found my cancer until it was terminal.
“I try to use my story to encourage others to check themselves and listen to their bodies.
“I also want to give them the confidence to book appointments and stand up for themselves when they feel something isn’t right.
“Cancer doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t matter your age, gender, or race.
“Finally, I want to give back to the places that helped, like the Teenage Cancer Trust and Young Lives vs. Cancer by fundraising, because without the help of their social workers and nurses, I know for a fact I couldn’t have made it out the other side.”
Amber is now looking to the future and will be starting her degree in social work this month.
She added: “I am looking forward to getting my degree in social work and hopefully becoming a social worker for the NHS, working specifically with cancer patients.
“If I can help even one person the way that they helped me, I know that I’ll be doing something right.
“As much as cancer has changed my life, it doesn’t define who I am.
“It shouldn’t get to take over my life and make me afraid to live.”
