![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_AN_DL_31-07-25_NatalieHopper_04.jpg\")
(Image: Natalie Hopper)<\/p>\n‘they kept reassuring me but I should\u2019ve just listened to my gut’(Image: Natalie Hopper)<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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 \u2018empty\u2019 after using the bathroom.<\/p>\n
Natalie\u2019s 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 \u2018unlikely to be cancer\u2019 as she was too young.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey kept telling me I was too young for bowel cancer, that is the one thing that always sticks in my head,\u201d said Natalie.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said at one point that the stomach aches weren\u2019t 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\u2019ve just listened to my gut,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_AN_DL_31-07-25_NatalieHopper_03.jpg\")
Natalie had emergency bowel surgery to remove the 20cm tumour(Image: Natalie Hopper)<\/p>\n
\u201cHe 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,\u201d she said. \u201cIf It wasn\u2019t for that doctor I wouldn\u2019t be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
A day later, she was sent for an emergency bowel surgery that left her in the hospital for two weeks.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d Natalie adds.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI set up my own business which I had for 5 years before I got ill, it was called \u2018HareTooOrganise\u2019 which helps people with mental health issues and hoarding disorder, it just took off and I was about to start employing,\u201d she explained. \u201cI couldn\u2019t do the job anymore because it was physically demanding so I had to shut it down overnight which was pretty gutting really,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_AN_DL_31-07-25_NatalieHopper.jpg\")
Natalie with her two children, Owen and Lauren(Image: Natalie Hopper)<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d been working in a three-storey house the day before and over the course of a couple of months we\u2019d shifted over 800 binbags out of this house. I said, I don\u2019t understand how I can have this inside me, how have I not collapsed, and [the doctors] don\u2019t know either,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019t even look at it. It sounds vain but I was newly single and said \u2018I can\u2019t deal with it\u2019, she said.<\/p>\n
After researching stomas and stoma bags, her mum told her that it was either \u201ca bag or a box,\u201d and Natalie has since come to feel a sense of pride.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019t care who knows,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m quite proud of it, I’ve done things for Bowel Cancer UK,<\/a> I\u2019m 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,\u201d Natalie added.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would make my throat feel like it was closing,\u201d said Natalie. \u201cMy side effects varied with each cycle of chemo, but I nearly always experienced fatigue\u201d.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u2018mop up\u2019 any cancer cells that may have been left there.<\/p>\n After a bad reaction to the chemo, Natalie took the time to speak with her oncologist and eventually make the decision to stop chemotherapy.<\/p>\n \u201cThroughout this journey, I\u2019ve learned how important it is to make your own choices. It\u2019s your life and your need to make the best choices for you,\u201d she said. \u201cI was told that I could be on chemo for the rest of my life. I didn\u2019t feel like this was in my best interest, physically or mentally; my quality of life is more important to me than preventative measures\u201d.<\/p>\n Natalie\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve just had my results from that, first they told me it had grown, then they told me that it was okay. So I don\u2019t know what to believe at the moment, I\u2019m stuck in limbo because I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen, I\u2019m just making the most of it really,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_AN_DL_31-07-25_NatalieHopper_05.jpg\")
Natalie had several rounds of Chemotherapy(Image: Natalie Hopper)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_AN_DL_31-07-25_NatalieHopper_06.jpg\")
Natalie says she’s stuck in limbo because she’s not sure what will happen(Image: Natalie Hopper)<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_AN_DL_08-07-25_CavalierInn_06.jpg\")
(Image: Natalie Hopper)<\/p>\n