BBC podcast presenter Deborah James, 39, with stage 4 bowel cancer, leaves fans in tears with emotional clips slow dancing with her son, 13, after new ‘rapidly-growing’ tumour made her feel like ‘all hope is lost’
- Deborah James, known as Bowel Babe, shared emotional video online last night
- Posted clip as she waltzed around her garden with her son Hugo, 13,
- Mother-of-two, 39, from London, said she had ‘felt like all hope had been lost’
- Deborah was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in December 2016
- Has been documenting struggles over last few days as cancer accelerated
- Previously said she has fast-growing tumour which isn’t responding to drugs
- The mother-of-two has started chemotherapy in a bid to inhibit the tumour
BBC podcast presenter Deborah James has left followers sobbing after sharing an emotional video as she performed a dance with her 13-year-old son.
The You, Me and the Big C star, 39, who has been living with stage four bowel cancer since she was diagnosed in December 2016, told her followers on Instagram last week that an aggressive new tumour near her liver had wrapped itself around her bile duct.
In a post to her 152,000 Instagram followers last night, the bowel cancer campaigner, also known as Bowel Babe, shared a throwback clip from 2017 as she waltzed with her son Hugo alongside a newer clip as the pair recreated the dance together in the garden.
She said the dancing had been part of her chemotherapy ritual in order to ‘laugh through the tears’ and said she hoped the video would be played at her son’s wedding, adding: ‘Recently I felt like all hope had been lost. Looking back at this, and creating it all again? It’s reminded me to keep holding it.’
BBC podcast presenter Deborah James, 39, from London, has left followers sobbing after sharing an emotional video as she recreated a dance with her 13-year-old son Hugo (left, her original dance in 2017, and right, the pair dancing together yesterday)
Updating fans last week, the mother-of-two said that an aggressive new tumour near her liver had wrapped itself around her bile duct, adding ‘the signs have been there for a while’ that the cancer that had ‘gone to sleep’ is back again
Sharing the video, which showed the pair dancing to Beauty and the Beast, she wrote: ‘Where taking it one day at a time can take you….this is hope.
‘I was last on this chemo in 2017. Hugo was 9 and half my height. And I didn’t think I’d make it through the year. I didn’t want my kids to be scared about seeing me attached to the pump at home.
‘So we created a tradition. A chemo pump dance. Each cycle – for 24 cycles, when I was attached to the pump at home, we had fun through the tears.’
She said it was some of her ‘first ever content’ she shared on her Bowel Babe page, adding: ‘It was my first attempt at “living with cancer. It got us far. And it’s what they recall from my early cancer days.
Her followers quickly flooded the post with comments, with many saying the clip had left them in floods of tears
‘When my kids found out I was back on this regime, their response was – ok so chemo dances are back then!’
The mother-of-two added that it had been ‘an honour’ to watch her son grow up and ‘flourish’, explaining: ‘Obviously anyone with a teenage boy will appreciate how he stepped up here (but tells me it’s a one time only thing!!).
‘He knew it was important to me – and I’ve told him it will be shown at his wedding.’
Her followers quickly flooded the post with comments, with many saying the clip had left them in floods of tears.
One wrote: ‘Covered in goosebumps watching that with the biggest lump in my throat. Your just amazing!’
Another commented: ‘Wow. That got me crying! You really are remarkable. And what a gorgeous boy you have. Good on him for stepping up. Sending lots of love.’
A third wrote: ‘This brought tears to my eyes. As a mother of a 13-year-old boy, I totally understand how he stepped up…
‘This is amazing – we love Hugo. Brilliant. You are obviously amazing too.’
Deborah shared a clip of her then nine-year-old son Hugo dancing with her during her last round of chemo in 2017
She revealed the pair had recreated the dance in their garden as she undergoes another round amid her cancer battle
The emotional post comes as Deborah continues documenting her battle with bowel cancer.
Last week, she had a liver stunt fitted to allow her to have chemotherapy to help fight off her cancer.
On Friday, she shared a photo of herself with husband Sebastien at the Queen’s tennis tournament in West London, saying: ‘I think you all know, by my general lack of being on here (dancing!), that Things have moved (in the wrong direction) very quickly cancer wise.’
Deborah praised her ‘superman’ husband, Sebastien Bowen, for ‘keeping the family together’ during a ‘crazy a** scary week’. She had two children with the banker, Hugo, 13, and Eloise.
Deborah, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016, told Instagram followers on Friday scan results had shown: ‘Things have moved (in the wrong direction) very quickly’
The upbeat deputy head-turned-campaigner and presenter added: ‘I do have a glimmer of hope and options and am greatful to my team who are currently pulling a “next step” plan together that doesn’t including writing me off just yet!’
Revealing she’d endured many tests and scans in recent days, Deborah said she’d ‘earnt a hell of a lot of brownie points for the amount of time I’ve spent on scanners and having tests this week’.
She added that: ‘Whilst it goes without saying that I’ve felt at rock bottom, I’m not giving up hope just yet.’
Deborah told fans that she was taking the weekend to ‘snuggle’ with my family – and remains hopeful of a ‘new plan’ but admitted she’d felt at ‘rock bottom’ in recent days following test results. She will begin another course of chemotherapy after she revealed ‘my drugs aren’t working’
She praised her husband, Sebastien Bowen, for ‘keeping the family together’, posting a picture of the couple at Queen’s tennis tournament in West London
The mother-of-two finished the post by saying she was ‘taking the weekend to snuggle up with my family so you won’t see me on here, and I urge you to do the same.’
Last year, Deborah began taking new experimental drugs as part of a trial after her oncology team gave her the green light to do so.
In April, James shared that her cancer, which has been kept at bay by pioneering treatment, was back again and she was forced to endure a 12th operation.
London-based Deborah, who recently launched ITV’s Lorraine’s ‘No Butts’ campaign, designed to get people talking about the illness’s main symptoms, revealed how she recently asked her oncologist whether this was the ‘beginning of the end’ following her most recent results.
‘Not giving up hope’ The star, who campaigns for better awareness of bowel cancer symptons, said she’d had a ‘crazy a** scary week’ but still had a ‘glimmer of hope’ on further treatment
Deborah told her 152,000 followers on Instagram that she’d ‘earnt a hell of a lot of brownie points for the amount of time I’ve spent on scanners and having tests this week’ Deborah, pictured at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Central London
In December 2016, the West London mother-of-two, a deputy head, was diagnosed ‘late’ with incurable bowel cancer.
She has frequently said that as a vegetarian runner, she was the last person doctors expected to get the disease.
After sharing her experiences on living with the disease on social media, Deborah became known as the ‘Bowel Babe’ and began writing a column for the Sun.
Last year, after several years of surgery, chemo and radiotherapy, Deborah underwent CyberKnife and ablation.
HOW DEPUTY HEAD TURNED SOCIAL MEDIA STAR HAS TRANSFORMED BOWEL CANCER AWARENESS
In 2018, Deborah (left) joined Lauren Mahon (front) and Rachael Bland (right) to present the award-winning podcast You, Me and the Big C on Radio 5 Live. Bland tragically died of breast cancer on September 5th that year; her husband Steve Bland now co-presents the show
- In December 2016, the West London mother-of-two, a deputy head, was diagnosed ‘late’ with incurable bowel cancer
- After sharing her experiences on living with the disease on social media, Deborah became known as the ‘Bowel Babe’
- In 2018, she became one of three presenters on Radio 5 Live’s You, Me and the Big C, which was conceived by her late co-host Rachael Bland
- On September 5th 2018, Welsh journalist and presenter Bland, diagnosed with terminal breast cancer, died at the age of 40
The star has been candid about every aspect of her life since being diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2016, including photos ahead of surgery and chemo sessions (pictured in hospital in 2020)
- Deborah and her co-host Lauren Mahon continue to present the show, with Steve Bland, Rachael’s husband, joining the duo
- On social media and in her column for the Sun newspaper, Deborah has documented the many chemo, radiotherapy sessions and surgery she’s had since
Last week, Deborah told followers on Instagram ‘By my general lack of being on here (dancing!), that Things have moved (in the wrong direction) very quickly cancer wise.’ Pictured: Deborah James undergoing a scan at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London
- In 2019, she had a procedure known as CyberKnife, a highly targeted form of radiotherapy to attack an inoperable lymph node close to her liver
- The pandemic’s impact on cancer services saw her campaign for care to continue as normal and, earlier this year, she launched the ITV’s Lorraine’s ‘No Butts’ campaign, raising awareness on bowel cancer symptoms
- Since last year, she has been taking new experimental drugs as part of a trial after her oncology team gave her the green light to do so
- On Friday, Deborah revealed that scans she’s had in recent days have revealed her cancer has gone in the ‘wrong direction very quickly’
- She told followers she would be taking a break on social media over the weekend to ‘snuggle’ with her family ahead of more scans
- In her Sun column today, the mother-of-two said a new ‘rapidly-growing’ tumour near her liver had wrapped itself around her bowel
- Deborah must now start chemotherapy again after her cancer stopped responding to the drugs she’s currently on
The surgery was a success and her cancer became inactive. But while Deborah continued undergoing daily targeted drug therapy to keep the cancer at bay, she told how just as lockdown restrictions in the UK started easing, her cancer ‘wanted in on the party’ and started waking up.
Deborah, who says that as a stage 4 cancer patient all she wants is ‘hope and options,’ added that the node is inoperable and that her body is unable to cope with any more radiotherapy in that area.
However, with an oncologist confirming Deborah’s cancer is spreading to ‘limited sites’ in a ‘specific way,’ local therapies – including a mix of CyberKnife and ablation – have so far had positive outcomes.
Deborah has also undergone a new type of ablation known as NanoKnife – an ablation procedure that uses low energy electrical pulses to create defects in cell membranes, resulting in loss of homeostasis and subsequent cell death.
Campaigner, broadcaster and author Deborah James said protecting cancer care should be a priority (pictured upon leaving hospital after going through an operation to treat her stage four metastatic bowel cancer)
The mother-of-two talks about her cancer on Instagram under her moniker Bowel Babe, and shares glimpses of her treatment (pictured during a treatment session in hospital)
BOWEL CANCER: THE SYMPTOMS YOU SHOULDN’T IGNORE
Bowel, or colorectal, cancer affects the large bowel, which is made up of the colon and rectum.
Such tumours usually develop from pre-cancerous growths, called polyps.
Symptoms include:
- Bleeding from the bottom
- Blood in stools
- A change in bowel habits lasting at least three weeks
- Unexplained weight loss
- Extreme, unexplained tiredness
- Abdominal pain
Most cases have no clear cause, however, people are more at risk if they:
- Are over 50
- Have a family history of the condition
- Have a personal history of polyps in their bowel
- Suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn’s disease
- Lead an unhealthy lifestyle
Treatment usually involves surgery, and chemo- and radiotherapy.
More than nine out of 10 people with stage one bowel cancer survive five years or more after their diagnosis.
This drops significantly if it is diagnosed in later stages.
According to Bowel Cancer UK figures, more than 41,200 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year in the UK.
It affects around 40 per 100,000 adults per year in the US, according to the National Cancer Institute.
‘I still get scared, I still overthink every possible scenario,’ she explained to Lorraine. ‘I still hate general anaesthetics and I worry every single time that I won’t wake up.’
‘I worry I might wake up too soon, I worry it will all go wrong. I worry I will freak out in the middle of the night, and I get nervous that I’ll have to sleep alone. ‘What if I die mid-operation?’
Deborah went on to say how before heading into the hospital, she makes sure everything is ‘in order at home’ – including reminding son Hugo of her password ‘just in case.’
She also added how she hugs him, Eloise and husband Seb ‘a little bit tighter.’
She continued: ‘I know that I have to take risks if I want to live, it’s a strategy that has got me this far and I’m not giving up now.’
Last month, Deborah poignantly revealed on Lorraine that ‘all she wants is a future’, as she launched a new campaign to mark Bowel Cancer Awareness month.
Speaking candidly about her future she said she’s had to accept she probably won’t see her children, aged 11 and 13, turn 18.
‘I was diagnosed at the age of 35, with stage four bowel cancer,’ she explained. ‘It was the last thing I thought would ever happen. It was caught very late and unfortunately, the chances of survival plummets.
‘It’s really hard when I look at my kids. I have a 13-year-old and an 11-year-old and I wonder if I’ll ever see them getting to 18 and I probably won’t.
‘All I want is to have a future and dream about a future. I want to make it to my 40th birthday later in the year, I want to have a huge party.
She added: ‘I want to be a 40-year-old, not Deborah with cancer, I want to be Deborah.’
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