‘I might be are gone...
EVER SINCE Deborah James was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer in 2016 she has had gruelling radiotherapy and chemotherapy and had 10 operations to keep her alive. At one stage, the 38-year-old BBC Radio 5 Live podcast presenter, aka the “Bowel Babe,” had 15 tumours before a scan earlier this year revealed that she is cancer-free thanks to targeted therapy for her stage 4 bowel cancer.
Deborah, host of the You, Me & the Big C podcast, still has to take 11 tablets a day to treat the mutation within her bowel and has radiotherapy fortnightly at the London’s Royal Marsden Hospital.
While many cancer patients have seen treatment suspended because of coronavirus, she realises she is one of the lucky ones after recently losing dear friend Kelly Smith.
And she’s “terrified” that more patients could fall victim unless the Government quickly acts to address the crisis in cancer care.
Kelly, 31, from Manchester, whose son Finley is six, died of bowel cancer in June when her chemotherapy treatment was stopped during lockdown.
Her parents Mandy and Craig Russell are now calling on the Government to get cancer services back up and running to avoid further tragedies and have launched a petition – which has so far received more than 200,000 signatures – to stop tens of thousands of coronavirus-linked cancer deaths.
“Kelly was one of my best friends and she died at the age of 31 after her chemo was stopped during lockdown,” says Deborah. “The Government needs to set out a plan showing exactly how they will flatten the cancer curve.
“At the moment all they seem obsessed about is a second wave of coronavirus and although we can’t deny the seriousness of Covid we have to find a way of getting cancer services back up and running to beyond where they were before.
“During the first wave the data shows that cancer was definitely forgotten. Getting an endoscopy, which is how you diagnose bowel cancer, went down to record lows and we know there is a massive backlog in the system with people waiting for endoscopies and there will be repercussions because of that and that is really scary.
“I’m terrified at the growing cancer crisis the country faces in the aftermath of Covid.
“When you delay cancer treatment people flick from being curable to incurable and we have to remember that it costs the NHS more money when that happens and more importantly lives.
“Nobody is going to pretend that Kelly was going to live forever and we knew what her outcome was going to be because she had incurable cancer.
“But there’s a very big difference when you are 31 and you have a six-yearold son, and Kelly now can’t take him to school in September. A few extra months is a lifetime for a cancer patient and Kelly didn’t get that. Her life was cut short by treatment delays and sadly she is a prime example of the hard decisions that had to be made because of Covid.”
Deborah says her friendship with Kelly blossomed three years ago when they were introduced by late colleague Rachael Bland, founder of You, Me & the Big C podcast.
“Rachael used to see her when they were having their treatment and after Kelly was diagnosed she reached out to me and said, ‘I’ve just been diagnosed’. We spoke every day online for three years and we used to meet when I went to Manchester,” she says.
“Kelly was a positive and upbeat person. She was a fun-loving brilliant girl, full of energy and life.
“The end of her life was so tough because when she moved into a hospice it meant that only her mum could be at her side and it really breaks my heart to think that.”
However, losing close friends forces Deborah to face the fact that she could be next.
“The online cancer community is
‘A few extra months is a lifeline for a cancer patient and Kelly didn’t get that. Her life was cut short by delays’