Woman diagnosed with stage four cancer after symptoms were dismissed as UTI

Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer which some readers may find distressing.

A woman was told she had a UTI, only to discover she actually has stage four cancer.

Laura Nixon had been suffering from pains that were initially disregarded as a urinary tract infection (UTI), until her doctor noticed something startling.

The 59-year-old, who lives in the UK, had been experiencing discomfort in her stomach after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in April 2024.

However, her prescribed antibiotics were not working and the pain continued to be intense and often.

So, Laura went to an out-of-hours doctor who deduced she likely had a UTI in January 2025.

After ten days of feeling the same, with no end to the pain, Laura visited the doctors again.

This was the second time she was told it was a UTI, and was re-prescribed antibiotics.

Laura Nixon had been suffering from pains in her stomach (Getty Stock Image)

At the time, she admitted to 'assuming' cancer markers had been checked as she’d had her gallbladder removed prior to her GP visit.

But when Laura visited A&E in April due to her pain and was told she needed to wait for a CT scan appointment to become available, she decided to take things into her own hands.

Instead, she visited her GP again and underwent health checks.

This led to an urgent phone call, where her doctor revealed she would need an immediate scan of her colon.

By 3.30pm that day, Laura was given a devastating blow.

She had stage four pancreatic cancer and perhaps five years left to live.

Laura, from Berkshire, said: "I don't think I have ever processed it. I go to bed at night and think if I wake up in the morning, it's a bonus. See people every day, catch up with people. I can't allow myself to be sad.

"There's no point in being angry with people as you can't go back, but I worry about people going through the same thing."

Right now, she is in Germany preparing to undergo alternative private transarterial chemoembolization treatment after choosing to opt out of chemotherapy via the UK's National Health Service (NHS).

This treatment involves delivering treatment drugs directly to the tumor, often via a catheter.

After being diagnosed, Laura believed her prognosis was false, having read online that the size of her tumor would give her months to live, not years.

When she was given her first appointment with the oncologist at the beginning of August, having been diagnosed on July 11, she feared she would have ‘eight months’ left to live by the time it came around.

She was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer (SWNS)

So, she explored her options and set up a GoFundMe page to fundraise some of the £65,000 ($88,000) cost needed to be treated in Germany.

Her mom also used her life savings to pour into her fund pot, ensuring she could afford the treatment which isn’t offered on the NHS due to being uncertain about whether it truly works.

She said: "I did more research, and I looked into a clinic in Germany, and I've paid £60,000 ($81,000) for private treatment which will aim to starve the tumour which should relieve some of the pain."

On September 3, she had blood drawn ‘to produce hormones from it and then they block oxygen to my pancreas and suffocate it to stop it getting any bigger’.

Next, she'll travel to Munich for two treatments on her lungs and liver.

Laura explained: "They are going to do intensive injections on the tumours as they've spread around my body.

"It'll be two-and-a-half weeks in Frankfurt and then two weeks in Munich."

These treatments aim to give her 'a 40 percent to 60 percent chance of living two years’.

While Laura is classed as being in palliative care, she says she’s not ‘worried about dying’, but about those she will leave behind once she’s gone.

Even though her symptoms were put down as a UTI in the beginning, Laura says she holds no ill will towards her doctor.

"I don't blame my GP at all - he's been so good and pressing for answers for a long time," she said. "He's amazing - I feel so sad for him as he's completely devastated. I just have to accept it and hope for the best."

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.