‘they kept reassuring me but I should’ve just listened to my gut’
(Image: Natalie Hopper)
The landlady of a Devon pub has worked hard to get families back to her new boozer. But behind the scenes, Natalie has been battling a life changing disease since she was diagnosed two years ago.
In March 2023, Natalie Hopper was diagnosed with Stage 4 Bowel Cancer, aged just 42. Natalie visited her GP several times due to stomach pain, which stopped her from laying on her left side and raised concerns that she never felt ‘empty’ after using the bathroom.
Natalie’s GP mentioned that it could be Colitis, inflammation of the digestive system, or Diverticulitis, a condition affecting the bowel causing stomach pain. She was then told it was ‘unlikely to be cancer’ as she was too young.
“They kept telling me I was too young for bowel cancer, that is the one thing that always sticks in my head,” said Natalie.
Blood tests showed inflammatory indicators, but a stool sample showed no evidence of cancer. She was prescribed antibiotics for Diverticulitis but her symptoms remained so she returned to the GP.
“I said at one point that the stomach aches weren’t disappearing and questioned if I should be thinking about cancer, I had this niggle in the back of my mind, they kept reassuring me but I should’ve just listened to my gut,” she explained.
After speaking to a locum, Natalie was referred for a CT scan the next morning which found a 20cm tumour in her bowel, and was told it was 90% likely to be cancerous.
Natalie had emergency bowel surgery to remove the 20cm tumour(Image: Natalie Hopper)
“He must have known exactly where to put his hand as I shot off the bed in agony and he sent me in the next morning,” she said. “If It wasn’t for that doctor I wouldn’t be here.”
A day later, she was sent for an emergency bowel surgery that left her in the hospital for two weeks.
Natalie had a stoma installed due to a large part of her colon being removed. At a follow up appointment, Natalie was told the cancer had spread to her liver, making her stage 4.
“I just came out of a 20 year marriage, so I was newly single, my children had grown up. I was going to have a new life, and then, bam, it was all gone,” Natalie adds.
Natalie has had a life long career in hospitality and working with the public, just before her diagnosis, Natalie had her own business helping those in need.
“I set up my own business which I had for 5 years before I got ill, it was called ‘HareTooOrganise’ which helps people with mental health issues and hoarding disorder, it just took off and I was about to start employing,” she explained. “I couldn’t do the job anymore because it was physically demanding so I had to shut it down overnight which was pretty gutting really,” she adds.
Natalie with her two children, Owen and Lauren(Image: Natalie Hopper)
“I’d been working in a three-storey house the day before and over the course of a couple of months we’d shifted over 800 binbags out of this house. I said, I don’t understand how I can have this inside me, how have I not collapsed, and [the doctors] don’t know either,” she said.
A stoma is a surgical procedure that creates an opening on the abdomen to allow waste to exit the body. It can aid in bypassing the tumour or damaged section of the bowel. When Natalie first learned she would have to live with one, she was distraught.
“I was really ashamed and conscious of it in the beginning. I thought people would judge me and see me differently. I had a really hard time with it, I wouldn’t even look at it. It sounds vain but I was newly single and said ‘I can’t deal with it’, she said.
After researching stomas and stoma bags, her mum told her that it was either “a bag or a box,” and Natalie has since come to feel a sense of pride.
“I did a lot of research and there are lots of people that put it out on TikTok and YouTube and so I found that I got more used to it in time, now I really don’t care who knows,” she said.
“I’m quite proud of it, I’ve done things for Bowel Cancer UK, I’m in a leaflet somewhere about dating. I got together with my partner in between surgeries and it made me feel so much better that people weren’t put off by that,” Natalie added.
In March 2023, Natalie started chemotherapy. She said that she experienced pain and stinging in the nerves of her face, fingers and toes as a side effect. This is known as Cold Dysesthesia, which is the inability to tolerate the cold, including cold drinks.
“It would make my throat feel like it was closing,” said Natalie. “My side effects varied with each cycle of chemo, but I nearly always experienced fatigue”.
Natalie had several rounds of Chemotherapy(Image: Natalie Hopper)
Natalie has an army of friends and family who support her every day. She moved in together with her daughter Lauren so she could help her through the treatment.
Natalie had four cycles of chemo, and in January 2024, had further surgery to remove the part of her liver that the cancer spread to. Later in March, she began another round of chemo as a preventative measure to ‘mop up’ any cancer cells that may have been left there.
After a bad reaction to the chemo, Natalie took the time to speak with her oncologist and eventually make the decision to stop chemotherapy.
“Throughout this journey, I’ve learned how important it is to make your own choices. It’s your life and your need to make the best choices for you,” she said. “I was told that I could be on chemo for the rest of my life. I didn’t feel like this was in my best interest, physically or mentally; my quality of life is more important to me than preventative measures”.
Natalie says she’s stuck in limbo because she’s not sure what will happen(Image: Natalie Hopper)
Natalie’s scans were clear up until January 2025, until she was told that something had been spotted on her scan again, she was sent for radiotherapy in Bristol and the end of March this year.
“I’ve just had my results from that, first they told me it had grown, then they told me that it was okay. So I don’t know what to believe at the moment, I’m stuck in limbo because I don’t know what’s going to happen, I’m just making the most of it really,” she said.
Natalie now runs The Cavalier Inn in Torrington which she took over in the last year. She’s been working hard to make the pub something to be proud of.
“People think I’m a bit crazy taking this place on after going through everything I’m going through, but I’m just a bit of a workaholic, I can’t just stay still,” she said.
“It’s been a turn around, we’re trying to aim at families, it has a bit of a reputation so we’ve been working really hard to try and get families back through the door,” said Natalie. “We’ve got a lot of people who have come back to this pub now that haven’t been in for years and years. Which is what I set out to do, people told me that it couldn’t happen but it is happening.
“It’s been a challenge, but it’s been a good challenge because it’s given me a lot to focus on. I’m glad that I made the decision that I did to do this, it feels like I’m still achieving something,” she added.
(Image: Natalie Hopper)
On Saturday, The Cavalier Inn is hosting a charity fundraising day for ‘Chemo Hero’, a charity that provides ‘kindness in a box’ to those experiencing cancer and chemotherapy. They send boxes of essentials such as pill pots, drinks and snacks, headscarves, thermometers and games for patients to use during their therapy.
Their event will include live music from 12:30pm, a family party with club karaoke and disco from 4pm-7pm and a head shaving and body waxing event starting after 9pm.