Laura Thornley, 36, had shoulder pain for three months before she started experiencing fatigue and rapid weight loss
A mum who believed her shoulder pain stemmed from poor posture discovered it was actually a sign of bowel cancer. Laura Thornley, 36, had been suffering shoulder pain for three months before she began experiencing exhaustion and dramatic weight loss.
Worried Laura had dropped three dress sizes in three months, she visited her GP in January 2023, but medics were baffled by her condition. In May, Laura awoke with agonising stomach pain.
She was referred for an iron transfusion and several colonoscopies. By December 2023, doctors suggested she might have IBS, but a subsequent CT scan revealed a 10cm tumour in her small intestine.
She immediately underwent a biopsy, which confirmed Laura had bowel cancer. She then had a radial resection to remove the tumour followed by six months of chemotherapy.
In April 2025, a second CT scan showed a 5cm tumour on her stomach lining. She started chemotherapy, but became critically ill and was sent for an MRI. Tragically, in May 2025, the mum-of-one learnt the cancer had spread to her brain and was given six to 12 months to live.
Laura, an administrator in car sales from Liverpool, said: “I need to make the most of what I’ve got – doing as much as I can and making memories with my family and my little boy. Even now, I don’t know whether I’ve not processed it or I’ve just accepted it and I’m at peace with it.
“You don’t normally go through life thinking I’m going to pass away next week, but in my head at the moment I do have that. It’s a bit of a strange feeling.”
In October 2022, Laura began suffering from shoulder pain, initially dismissing it as nothing serious. However, after three months of persistent pain accompanied by fatigue and weight loss, she sought medical advice, with her GP initially suspecting IBS.
Yet, Laura felt there was something more sinister at play. Nine months on, still plagued by symptoms including weight loss, fatigue, and shoulder pain, Laura returned to her doctor. She was referred to Whiston Hospital where a CT scan revealed a 10cm tumour in her small intestine. Following a biopsy, Laura received the devastating news a week later that she had bowel cancer.
She said: “I was gobsmacked. They told me they would do the surgery, but there was a chance it might not go well, and I might have to be put on palliative care.
“I was completely blown away. But I didn’t have time to process it – the surgery was five days later. I was just in a state of shock.”
Laura underwent surgery to remove the tumour, followed by 12 gruelling rounds of chemotherapy. In April 2025, a scan detected a 5cm tumour on her stomach lining.
Tragically, in May 2025, Laura was informed that the cancer had metastasised to her brain and she was given a prognosis of six to 12 months.
Laura said: “The diagnosis came on so fast. After I’d been treated for the bowel cancer, they put me through adjuvant chemotherapy, which is treatment to stop the cancer from coming back. So in my head, I thought I was cured.”
She’s now focusing on creating as many memories as possible with her family and has plans to take her four-year-old son, Isaac, to Disneyland Paris in August 2025. Laura began a memory box for Isaac when she first received her diagnosis, filling it with letters, birthday cards for future celebrations, and special gifts like a tie for his prom and a watch for his 18th birthday.
She added: “I’m just trying to live in the moment with him rather than thinking about what’s to come. But I know he’s in good hands with my family and my partner’s family.”