I have recently watch the programme documenting Dame Deborah James’ battle against bowel cancer. It is a very moving, yet humorous, story of her journey from diagnosis through to her final days.

 

I have always been an advocate of know your own body. Without wishing to scare people, there are so many different types of cancer, we all need to be aware when something has changed and get anything you don’t feel is right, however embarrassing, checked out.

 

 

Cancer research Uk has loads of information if you prefer to research before seeing a GP.

 

From a personal view, at the age of 38, I had a suspicious lump checked out a couple of weeks after discovering it, deep within my boob. I received my diagnosis 2 weeks later & had an operation 2 weeks after that. I’m not going to lie, the following 6 months of treatment was gruelling and at times I wanted to throw in the towel, but the hubby, family and friends, kept me going and here I am 24 years later still able to tell the tale.

 

Unfortunately Dame Deborah, like many at the age of 35, thought it couldn’t happen to her and let her unusual symptoms, of blood in her poo, persist for several months before seeking medical advice.

 

However despite her prognosis, she used her own journey to raise awareness of this devastating, yet treatable (if caught early) disease.

She was incredibly brave. With two fellow sufferers the podcast You, Me and the Big C was born. Such courageous ladies 🥰. Seeing various clips in the documentary, they had all accepted their prognosis with strength and humility. And all have/had an incredible love for their families and life. They told their stories with humour and removed the taboos about poo and boobs. Not only did they encourage hundreds, possibly thousands to not only check their bodies and seek help, but inspired those having received a diagnosis to stay positive and to live life to the full.

Deborah James certainly did that. As well as the podcast she set up the bowelbabe account across social media platforms, documenting her treatment and humorously raising awareness, but more importantly recording her time spent with her hubby and two young children.

Her life expectancy was 2 – 2 1/2 years from initial diagnosis. She fought hard every single day, running fund raising races, keeping active, remaining positive and having fun.

During her treatment new drugs were approved for the NHS to use, which she was able to receive after the initial drugs stopped being effective for her. This cocktail of cancer bashing medicine gave her an additional 2 1/2 years of, mostly quality life.

She was able to spend more Christmases with her kids than 1st anticipated, see her son grow to be taller than her, make lots and lots of memories to keep her alive in their hearts and reach the milestone of her 40th birthday 🥳.

In the end it wasn’t the drugs that failed her, it was the weakness of her own body. Even though she knew her days were numbered, she set up the just giving page BowelBabeFund which has raised over £11m for cancer research and continues to do so. She continued to make precious memories with her family and received a Damehood from Prince William.

I am in awe of this extraordinary woman, of the way she dealt with the horrendous diagnosis in the public gaze, how she battled to live longer to remain with her family, of her ambition to raise awareness and inspire others to know their bodies and of the fundraising she did, and continues to do,to fund research to help others in the future.

The documentary is an amazing diary of one woman and her family’s journey of dealing with devastating news. It is still available on iPlayer, Bowelbabe in her own words

Her legacy continues