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A woman who had a nasty hangover was horrified to discover her symptoms were actually a sign of cancer.
Amber Orr, from Ballymena in Northern Ireland, woke up with a tummy ache and extreme nausea in March 2019 and assumed it was simply due to excessive alcohol consumption 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 the hospital.
There, doctors discovered that the social work student’s appendix had ruptured and performed emergency surgery to remove it.
But rather than her medical ordeal being over, further tests revealed that the rupture was caused by a cancerous tumor in her abdomen.
Amber Orr, from Ballymena in Northern Ireland, woke up with a tummy ache and extreme nausea in March 2019 and assumed it was simply due to excessive alcohol consumption 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 the hospital.
Amber had been partying with friends in Belfast in the spring of 2019, when she was 19 years old.
Although the next day he ruled out his illness as a consequence of alcohol, his symptoms lasted 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 having excruciating pain in my side and was vomiting.”
Her mother then took her to Antrim Area Hospital when she showed no signs of improving.
Doctors monitored Amber overnight, suspecting she had a UTI, a urinary tract infection that can cause pain in the lower abdomen.
But after spending another 48 hours in the hospital, she was rushed into surgery because her appendix, a finger-shaped organ with no known function, had burst. It is usually unclear what causes appendicitis.
Amber underwent more tests and was sent home.
He assumed his health problems were over until two weeks later, when he received a call from the hospital asking him to come back.
Once she arrived, the doctors sat her down and told her that the test results showed that she had a Cancerous neuroendocrine mass: A rare tumor that can develop in many of the body’s organs.
Amber’s had been located in her appendix, before it was removed, and had also spread to her intestine.
Around 6,000 people in the UK and more than 12,000 in the US are diagnosed with cancer each year.
Symptoms depend on where the tumor is located. Those in the intestine can cause diarrhea, constipation and stomach pains.
Amber said she had “never thought” she had cancer.
And he added: “I didn’t feel anything. It was more of a numbness. I didn’t properly assimilate the information until months later.
“Cancer is a taboo word and topic 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 it was all over.”
There, doctors discovered that the social work student’s appendix had ruptured and performed emergency surgery to remove it.
But rather than her medical ordeal being over, further tests revealed that the rupture was caused by a cancerous tumor in her abdomen.
Doctors told him he would need surgery to remove the tumor and chemotherapy to kill surviving cells.
But the procedure performed in May 2019, which removed half of her intestine, successfully removed the cancer, meaning she did not require further treatment.
He has now been in remission for four years.
However, it continues to affect their mental health.
She said: “I can’t count the number of hours I spent crying and breaking down over how cancer made me feel.”
‘Whether physically, because of the scars on my body, or mentally, because of the anxiety and depression from the treatment and the fear of it coming back.
‘You don’t realize how much cancer affects your mental health.
“My mental health was not affected 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 had been partying with friends in Belfast in the spring of 2019, when she was 19 years old.
Although the next day he ruled out his illness as a consequence of alcohol, his symptoms lasted another two days.
She said: “When I woke up feeling sick, I blamed it on my hangover.”
‘I try to use my story to encourage others to examine themselves and listen to their bodies.
‘I also want to give them the confidence to make appointments and stand up for themselves when they feel something is not right.
‘Cancer does not discriminate. It doesn’t matter your age, sex or race.
‘I want to give back to places that helped, like Teenage Cancer Trust and Young Lives vs. Cancer, through fundraising, because without the help of your social workers and nurses, I know for a fact that I couldn’t have done it. on the other hand.
Amber will begin her studies in social work this month.
She added: “I’m looking forward to gaining my degree and hopefully becoming an NHS social worker, working specifically with cancer patients.”
‘If I can help even one person the same way they helped me, I know I will do 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.”
I thought I just had a hangover – but my symptoms were caused by something much worse