I thought I just had a hangover – but my symptoms were caused by something much worse

A woman who had a nasty hangover was left horrified after discovering her symptoms were actually a sign of cancer.

Amber Orr, from Ballymena in Northern Ireland, woke up with tummy pain and extreme nausea in March 2019 and assumed it was just due to heavy drinking with friends the night before.

However, when the 24-year-old was still suffering from ‘unbearable’ pain and throwing up days later, her mother rushed her to hospital.

There, doctors discovered the social work student’s appendix had ruptured and perform emergency surgery to remove it. 

But rather than her medical ordeal being over, further tests revealed that the rupture was triggered by a cancerous tumour in her abdomen. 

Amber had been partying with friends in Belfast in spring 2019, when she was 19-years-old.

Despite brushing-off her illness the next day as the after-effects of alcohol, her symptoms lasted for another two days.

She said: ‘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.’

Her mother then took her to Antrim Area Hospital when she showed no signs of getting better. 

Medics monitored Amber overnight, suspecting that she had an UTI — an infection of the urinary tract that can cause pain in the lower tummy.

But after spending another 48 hours in hospital, she was rushed into surgery because her appendix — a finger-shaped organ with no known function — had burst. It’s usually not clear what causes an appendicitis. 

Amber underwent further tests and was sent home.

She assumed her health woes were over until two weeks later when she got a call from the hospital, asking her to come back in.

Once she arrived, medics sat her down and told her that test results showed she had a cancerous neuroendocrine mass — a rare tumour the 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 bowel.

Around 6,000 people in the UK and more than 12,000 in the US are diagnosed with the cancer every year.

Symptoms depend on where the tumour is located. Those in the bowel can trigger diarrhoea, constipation and tummy pains. 

Amber said she had ‘never thought’ that she had cancer.

She added: ‘I didn’t feel anything. It was more of a numbness. I didn’t properly digest the information until months later.

‘Cancer is a 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.’

Doctors told her that she would require surgery to remove the tumour and chemotherapy to kill any surviving cells.

But the procedure in May 2019, which removed half of her bowel, successfully cleared her of the cancer — meaning she didn’t require further treatment.

She has now been in remission for four years.

However, it continues to impact her mental health.

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.

‘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 will be starting her degree in social work this month.

She added: ‘I am looking forward to getting 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 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.’