A woman who had a nasty hangover was shocked to discover her symptoms were actually a sign of cancer.
Amber Orr, from Ballymena in Northern Ireland, woke up in March 2019 with stomach pains and extreme nausea and assumed it was only due to heavy drinking with friends the night before.
However, when the 24-year-old continued to suffer ‘unbearable’ pain and vomited days later, her mother rushed her to hospital.
There, doctors discovered that the social work student’s appendix had ruptured and performed emergency surgery to remove it.
But instead of her medical ordeal being over, further tests revealed that the fracture was caused by a cancerous tumor in her abdomen.
Amber Orr, from Ballymena in Northern Ireland, woke up in March 2019 with stomach pains and extreme nausea and assumed this was only due to heavy drinking with friends the night before
However, when the 24-year-old was still in ‘excruciating’ pain and vomiting days later, her mother rushed her to hospital
Amber was partying with friends in Belfast in the spring of 2019, when she was 19 years old.
Despite brushing off her illness as an aftereffect of alcohol the next day, her symptoms persisted for another two days.
She said: ‘When I woke up feeling sick I blamed it on my hangover.
‘But as the day went on, I realized it wasn’t a hangover.
‘I kept getting an excruciating pain in my side and had to vomit.’
Her mother then took her to Antrim Area Hospital when she showed no signs of improvement.
Medics monitored Amber overnight because they suspected she had a urinary tract infection, an infection of the urinary tract that can cause pain in the lower abdomen.
But after spending another 48 hours in hospital, she was rushed into emergency surgery because her appendix – a finger-shaped organ with no known function – had burst. It is usually not clear what causes appendicitis.
Amber underwent further tests and was sent home.
She assumed her health problems were over until she received a call from the hospital two weeks later asking her to return.
Once she arrived, the doctors sat her down and told her that the test results showed she had a disease cancerous neuroendocrine mass – a rare tumor that can develop in many organs of the body.
Amber’s disease was located in her appendix before it was removed and had also spread to her intestines.
Around 6,000 people in Britain and more than 12,000 in the US are diagnosed with cancer every year.
The symptoms depend on where the tumor is located. Those in the intestines can cause diarrhea, constipation and abdominal pain.
Amber said she “never thought” she had cancer.
She added: ‘I didn’t feel anything. It was more of a numbness. I didn’t process the information properly until months later.
‘Cancer is such a taboo word and subject, and hearing it out loud is so surreal.
‘My diagnosis also happened so quickly that I honestly didn’t have time to even think about what was happening to me until the whole thing was over.’
There, doctors discovered that the social work student’s appendix had ruptured and performed emergency surgery to remove it
But instead of her medical ordeal being over, further tests revealed that the fracture was caused by a cancerous tumor in her abdomen.
Doctors told her she would need surgery to remove the tumor and chemotherapy to kill any remaining cells.
But the procedure in May 2019, which removed half of her intestines, successfully rid her of the cancer – meaning she didn’t need any further treatment.
She has been in remission for four years now.
However, it continues to impact her mental health.
She said: ‘I can’t count the number of hours I spent crying and breaking down because of how cancer has made me feel.
‘Whether that’s physically, through the scars on my body, or mentally, through the anxiety and depression from the treatment and the fear of it returning.
‘You don’t realize how much cancer affects your mental health.
“My mental health didn’t take a hit until I was in remission.”
Amber is now using her experience to raise awareness about 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.
Amber was partying with friends in Belfast in the spring of 2019, when she was 19 years old
Despite brushing off her alcohol-related illness the next day, her symptoms persisted for another two days.
She said: ‘When I woke up feeling sick I blamed it on my hangover’
‘With my story I try to encourage others to control themselves and listen to their bodies.
‘I also want to give them the confidence to make agreements and stand up for themselves if they feel something is wrong.
‘Cancer does not discriminate. It doesn’t matter what your age, gender or race is.
‘I want to give something back to the places that have helped, like the Teenage Cancer Trust and Young Lives vs. Cancer, by raising money, because without the help of their social workers and nurses I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to make it out the other way.’
Amber will start her social work studies this month.
She added: ‘I’m looking forward to completing my degree and hopefully becoming a social worker for the NHS, working specifically with cancer patients.
“If I can help even one person the way they helped me, I know I’m doing something right.
“As much as cancer has changed my life, it doesn’t define who I am.
‘It shouldn’t take over my life and make me afraid to live.’