Brave cancer sufferer:
For Bowel Cancer Awareness month, Closer talks to Deborah James about her struggle and her determination to raise awareness of the condition
“I don’t know what the future holds”
If you were to catch sight of Deborah James pounding the streets in training for the London Marathon, it would be hard to believe that she has a terminal cancer diagnosis. She looks a picture of health – but four years ago she was given the devastating news that she not only had bowel cancer, but that it had spread and was classed as incurable. At the time she was just 35, fit and healthy.
Since then, she’s made it her mission to raise awareness that the killer disease can strike at any age. Deborah had experienced some symptoms for months before her diagnosis, but it never crossed her mind that it could be bowel cancer as she thought she was too young.
BEATING THE ODDS
Deborah, 39, who lives in London with husband Seb, 41, and their two children, Hugo, 13, and Eloise, 11, says, “Statistics say I shouldn’t be here now, I’ve been incredibly lucky. My body has responded to targeted therapy – which is designed to block cancer pathways mixed with chemotherapy. But I’m painfully aware that we don’t know how much longer it will go on for. If I’d been diagnosed earlier then it could have been cut out and, in all likelihood, I would have been fine.
“But I can’t keep dwelling on that. Instead, I want to raise awareness. I want other people to get checked out and not leave it. I’m beating the odds so far, but it will eventually kill me. I want to spread the message in the time I have left.”
Deborah has written a book, F*** You Cancer, and launched an incredibly successful podcast, You, Me
And The Big C. And her work is vital – shockingly, one in 15 men and one in 18 women will be diagnosed with the disease during their lifetime. While the vast majority of those cases are in people over 50, more than 2,500 new cases are diagnosed in under-50s every year.
Dr Lisa Wilde, Director of Research and External Affairs at Bowel Cancer UK, says, “Every 15 minutes, someone is diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK – that’s over 42,000 people every year.
TREATABLE
“It’s the UK’s second biggest cancer killer but it shouldn’t be, as it’s treatable and curable, especially if diagnosed early.”
In hindsight, Deborah suspects her bowel cancer took root years ago, as she’d suffered from various stomach problems which she put down to IBS. However, when she started needing to go to the toilet up to eight times a day and noticed blood in her poo in the middle of 2016, she went to the doctor.
She says, “It wasn’t constant, I’d have about a week of having a bad stomach, then it would be fine. It was easy to write it off as perhaps being stressrelated as I had a full-on job as a deputy head in a school. I went to my doctor five times in six months before I was referred.
“They told me it was cancer on the day I had my colonoscopy. My tumour was 6.5cm but I hoped it was contained.”
The tumour was removed in December 2016, but subsequent scans showed the cancer had already spread to her lungs and liver and, in February 2017, she was told it was incurable.
RESILIENCE
She says, “Having to tell the children was devastating. They were only seven and nine at the time and I’ve had to face up to the fact it’s unlikely I’ll be here to see them graduate or get married. And they’ve had to get used to the fact that sometimes I’m too ill from my treatment to move from the sofa. But they’re amazingly resilient and seem happy and well adjusted so far.”
Deborah has undergone over 100 procedures, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and operations, to blitz her tumours.
Last year, she was declared NED (no evidence of disease) but little bits of active cancer have popped up since then in her lymph nodes, but have been blasted by radiotherapy or cut out.
She says, “Lockdown was
❛ I’VE HAD TO FACE UP TO THE FACT IT’S UNLIKELY I’LL SEE THE CHILDREN GRADUATE OR GET MARRIED ❜
tough as I had to shield and go to appointments by myself. But it really worries me that cancer referrals are down because of the pandemic. Thousands of people are ignoring symptoms, too worried to go and get them checked out. But it’s vitally important to see your GP.
UNCERTAINTY
“At the moment I’m on a very new regime of drugs and it seems to be working for me – but it’s so new. And I’ve recently had the COVID-19 vaccination so I don’t have to shield any more, which is good. I don’t know what the future holds, I rarely make plans now as I don’t know if I’ll get to do them. I just try to make every day count.”
One plan Deborah has made is to run the London Marathon – which was moved to October due to the pandemic – as she credits exercise with helping her both mentally and physically.
She says, “Exercise increases my lung capacity and mentally it gives me an aim for every day. I run 5k most weekdays or do half an hour on my Peloton, and at the weekend I will do a 10k. I’m not fast, I just plod along. But I’ve realised that’s all you can do in life – just keep plodding on and hope for the best.”