{"id":142142,"date":"2025-05-29T19:15:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T19:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/142142\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T19:15:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T19:15:11","slug":"we-had-no-idea-and-just-thought-i-was-unwell-after-disneyland-holiday-its-blindsided-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/142142\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We had no idea and just thought I was unwell after Disneyland holiday… it’s blindsided us’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The civil servant from Wigan had been in excruciating pain for weeks<\/p>\n

17:50, 29 May 2025Updated 18:33, 29 May 2025<\/p>\n

\"KatieKatie Cooper photographed on her cancer journey. (Image: SWNS)<\/p>\n

A mum who was told her aches and pains were as a result of a bug she picked up while on holiday was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer just a few weeks later.<\/p>\n

Katie Cooper, 32, visited Disneyland Paris with her partner Dan and three-year-old daughter Aurora in March of this year.<\/p>\n

Days after she got back to the UK, she went to the doctors complaining of feeling ill, but was told it was more than likely “just a virus”.<\/p>\n

Four years earlier, the civil servant from Wigan<\/a> had undergone surgery to remove a cancerous lump – roughly the size of a pea – from behind her ear.<\/p>\n

Doctors at the time informed her of a risk of the cancer returning within five years.<\/p>\n

Soon after the trip to Paris, the mother-of-one quickly found herself bedbound and in “agony” – unaware that parts of her lower back had been broken by her cancer returning.<\/p>\n

After five weeks, with no improvement in her condition, Katie underwent a scan.<\/p>\n

Doctors were shocked to discover that the melanoma had not only returned, but had aggressively spread throughout her body – reaching her spine, liver, lungs, abdominal wall, and ovaries.<\/p>\n

She is now undergoing radiotherapy and immunotherapy to manage her incurable condition.<\/p>\n

\"KatieKatie Cooper photographed on her cancer journey with husband Dan.(Image: SWNS)<\/p>\n

Katie said: “It’s terrifying. We had no idea and we just thought I was unwell. It blindsided us.<\/p>\n

“Finding out subsequently that it was in my other organs as well I knew it would be quite difficult from here on out.”<\/p>\n

Katie’s friend, Abi Smith, has launched a fundraiser<\/a> to support the “incredible woman”.<\/p>\n

Donations will go directly toward medical costs, travel for treatment, and essential daily living support.<\/p>\n

“She’s accepted the cancer, but when she thinks about her daughter, she gets really upset,” Abi said.<\/p>\n

“Katie is hoping she’ll be there for all her milestones. She’s amazing – she’s just the most inspirational person.”<\/p>\n

The 43-year-old teacher added: “Her outlook on life, her positivity – I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say anything negative of anybody.<\/p>\n

“She’s an incredible woman.”<\/p>\n

\"KatieKatie Cooper photographed on her cancer journey. (Image: SWNS)<\/p>\n

Katie’s prognosis depends on how well she reacts to the current treatment she’s undergoing.<\/p>\n

Abi said: “The cancer is pushing against the bones – causing the breaks. It’s incurable, and she’s undergoing radiotherapy as pain management and immunotherapy.<\/p>\n

“The prognosis if the treatment doesn’t work is months,” she explained.<\/p>\n

“If it does work, they may be able to get to a 60% chance of 10 years.”<\/p>\n

Katie has encouraged others to “advocate for themselves” and to get checked if they’re unsure about something.<\/p>\n

“You know your body best,” she added.<\/p>\n

“If you feel like something is not right, then you are within your rights to go and ask and don’t be afraid to keep pushing to get those answers.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The civil servant from Wigan had been in excruciating pain for weeks 17:50, 29 May 2025Updated 18:33, 29…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[105,16,15,1287],"class_list":{"0":"post-142142","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-wigan"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114592725759544831","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}