Now she’s got your attention, The Sun’s bowel cancer champion wants YOU to help her #STOPbowelcancer
BOWEL cancer babe Deborah James wants your attention, and she wants it now.
Just days after major surgery, the 35-year-old teacher has posed up and set the public some homework - to learn the symptoms of bowel cancer.
The mum-of-two isn't your average bowel cancer patient - she's no meat-eating man over the age of 50.
And, that's her point - no one is too young to be told they too are battling the disease.
Deborah, who lives in south west London, was a fit and healthy, marathon-running vegetarian before she began to notice changes to her bowel habits last year.
After repeated visits to the doctors, she was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer just before Christmas.
But, no sooner had she wrapped her head around that, the disease dealt her another vicious blow.
The stunning mum was told last month her cancer had spread, to her lungs.
MOST READ IN HEALTH
And so on the Thursday before Easter she found herself on surgeon Simon Jordan's table at London's Royal Brompton hospital to go under the knife for a second time.
But, determined to get home for Easter with her kids, nine-year-old Hugo and Eloise, seven, Deborah was up and about just days later.
"I've made good progress," she told The Sun Online.
"I got out of hospital really quickly, but I think I might have overdone it a bit, I've got a cough now.
"I saw my surgeon today and I thought he was going to b*****k me, but he's really pleased with my progress."
She said her medical team were really pleased with how her latest op went, removing all the tumours in her right lung.
Deborah has now got a two-week wait before embarking on a more aggressive chemo regime.
And now she's facing the daunting prospect of losing her hair.
But, once again refusing to let her disease get the better of her, she's already met with wig makers to discuss her options.
"It's slightly further down the line, and I could be lucky and keep it," she said.
WHAT ARE THE KEY SIGNS YOU COULD HAVE BOWEL CANCER?
BOWEL cancer can be treated, but the earlier it is diagnosed the better a patient’s chance of survival.
If you suffer any symptoms, however embarrassing you may think they are, go to see your doctor.
GPs deal with bowels, tummy problems, diarrhoea and all sorts on a regular basis, so what may seem grim to you, is part of their normal working day.
The key signs you could have bowel cancer include:
- bleeding from your bottom, and/or blood in your poo
- a change in bowel habit lasting three weeks or longer
- unexplained weight loss
- extreme tiredness for no obvious reason
- a pain or lump in your tummy
Most of the time, a person suffering these symptoms won’t have bowel cancer.
Other health problems can cause similar symptoms, but it is vital doctors rule out cancer early on.
"But emotionally the thought is quite difficult."
As well as losing her hair, the deputy head teacher also now faces a much more uncertain treatment plan.
"Stage four cancer isn't predictable," she said.
"It's always changing and so the plan is always changing."
There are some tumours lurking in Deborah's left lung, but doctors are hoping with chemo, they may shrink.
But, they haven't ruled out another op.
While she waits for chemo to start, the determined 35-year-old refused to put her feet up and take it easy.
And talking about the unpleasant business of your bowels.
With a group of friends, Deborah posed naked save for some strategically placed boards, bearing her potentially life-saving message.
"It was really fun," she told The Sun Online.
"It's a bit of a laugh, about fighting bowel cancer together.
"We're a bunch of women who never thought in a million years one of us would have cancer."
We’re a bunch of women who never thought in a million years one of us would have cancer
Deborah James
For Deborah, her friends and family have proved an invaluable weapon in helping her face the last few months.
"I couldn't have done it without them," she said.
"It shows the real importance of having a network when you're fighting cancer.
"And they've also been supporting me in wanting to raise awareness, they are really behind it... literally."
So what does Deborah want to say to other young people who, like her six months ago, never dream this could happen to them?
"For me the key message is you are never too young for bowel cancer," she told The Sun Online.
"For me it is incredibly important to raise awareness in people under the age of 50.
"People over 50 too, everybody really, but what's important is people really realise it can happen to anyone at any stage of life.
"It is a really preventable disease.
"My long-term hope is that by the time my kids get to my age there are things in place that will pick up the signs of bowel cancer much faster.
"I hope in future the only people diagnosed with bowel cancer are told they're stage one or two, when it's less of a threat.
"Then no one will have to face what I'm facing."
NEW TOOL TO HELP DOCTORS SPOT BOWEL CANCER FASTER
A NEW tool that calculates a person's risk of developing bowel cancer is designed to speed up diagnosis and save young patients' lives.
Based on the result, they can then decide whether a young patient needs to see a specialist for futher tests.
The symptoms of bowel cancer are common and account for one in 12 GP appointments.
But in most cases, cancer isn’t the cause so it can be hard for GPs to determine which patients are at serious risk.
Deborah Alsina, CEO of , who helped develop the new tool as part of their , welcomed the “exciting” step forward.
“Delayed diagnosis is all too common for young patients with both bowel cancer and inflammatory bowel disease, therefore finding quicker, more effective ways to identify and diagnose these patients earlier is crucial.
“Our research shows that one in five young people have to visit their GP five times or more before they get their diagnosis and this is simply not acceptable.”
One of the major barriers, Deborah said, is society's unwillingness to talk about their bowels, and bowel cancer.
"Before I was diagnosed I didn't know anything about it," she admitted.
"I don't want to scare people, chances are in most cases your symptoms won't be bowel cancer.
"But, the reality is a bit of a scare is better than stage four bowel cancer."
And, as Deborah points out, the statistics show bowel cancer is becoming more and more prevalent in the under-50 age group.
On average, it still remains a disease that's more common in older people.
But, due to the fact it is largely caused by lifestyle factors, such as poor diet and a lack of exercise, it's likely to become more common unless drastic action is taken.
As for Deborah, her oncologist is really positive, despite her cancer spreading.
"He is treating me very aggressively," she said.
"He can do that because I'm young, and relatively fit and healthy otherwise.
"He's told me he will do whatever is humanly possible to cure me, and prolong my life.
"But the reality is I should not have had cancer in my body as long as I did before diagnosis."
Deborah hopes to raise awareness among the public of the signs to watch out for - changing bowel habits, blood in your poo, unexplained weight loss, a pain or lump in your tummy.
But she's also desperate for doctors and GPs to think bowel cancer, whenever their patients present with symptoms that are remotely similar.
While most GPs will never see a young patient with bowel cancer, Deborah said the more aware they are of the disease, the more likely they will catch that out of the ordinary patient.
To donate to Bowel Cancer UK visit Deborah's
NEVER TOO YOUNG TO FACE BOWEL CANCER
BOWEL Cancer UK is leading the fight for change for young people diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Their Never Too Young campaign is calling for a change to clinical practice and policy to stop people under 50 being missed.
Every year, 2,540 young people are told they have bowel cancer.
While this is just six per cent of those diagnosed with the disease, the number is slowly growing.
There has been a 45 per cent rise in the number of under 50s diagnosed with the disease in the past 10 years.
And three out of five people diagnosed under the age of 50 will be diagnosed when the cancer is already in the later stages of disease.
The charity’s research has shown younger patients have a very different experience of diagnosis, treatment and care.
And, the reality is, young people are typically diagnosed late because their symptoms can be blamed on other, less serious, but more common diseases.
Deborah Alsina, the charity’s CEO, said the aim of the campaign is to fight for improved diagnosis, treatment and care of young patients.
She told The Sun Online one of the key problems is a lack of awareness of the disease among young people.
“They think it’s a disease that affects older people, which is predominantly true,” she said.
A survey of young patients last year revealed only one in five young patients were aware they could be at risk of bowel cancer before they were diagnosed.
But, more than that, there is also a lack of awareness among doctors and medics, Deborah added.
“As a GP you may only see one case of bowel cancer in someone under 50 during their entire career,” she said.
“And the reality is bowel cancer symptoms can be quite vague.
“We hear from patients all the time how they thought their funny tummy was just a hangover from holiday, or that their changed bowel habits just come and go.
“Around 50 per cent don’t present with classic red flag symptoms.”
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