Deborah James, presenter of the BBC podcast You, Me And The Big C, penned a 'goodbye' message to her followers on social media after shifting to a hospice with her family. She shared the message on an Instagram post on Monday, telling her followers "nobody knows how long I've got left."
The 40-year-old was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer in 2016 and had been informed that she might not cross a five-year mark, which was Christmas of 2021. Ever since her diagnosis James has actively updated her 450,000 Instagram followers with her treatments and progress.
The mother-of-two began presenting You, Me and the Big C with Lauren Mahon and BBC Radio 5 Live newsreader Rachael Bland in 2018, a show that earned high praise for its candid discussions of cancer and the stigma surrounding it, as per BBC reports.
In her Instagram post, James informed her followers that her cancer cannot be actively treated anymore so the medical professionals are now focused towards minimizing her pain. She is currently spending time with her family and taking rest.
'My active care has stopped and I am now moved to hospice at home care, with my incredible family all around me and the focus is on making sure I'm not in pain and spending time with them. Nobody knows how long I've got left but I'm not able to walk, I'm sleeping most of the days," she wrote.
In her post he former deputy head teacher turned cancer campaigner also revealed, she was hospitalized as an in-patient earlier this month when an acute medical emergency in January almost resulted in her death, referring to that time as the 'hardest' part of her 5-year cancer battle.
With the Instagram post, James announced a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe, the 'Bowelbabe Fund' – named after her online handle – to fund cancer research into personalized medicine for patients, and to support campaigns that raise awareness of bowel cancer. Links to charities such as Cancer Research UK, Bowel Cancer UK and the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity were also shared, the Guardian reported.
James has received tremendous support from her followers in her fight against cancer, calling her a 'true inspiration' and a 'force to be reckoned with' when it came to talking about bowel cancer. This support became even more apparent when her fundraising campaign went beyond its original aim of £250,000 and reached a staggering £1milllion within hours of making the post.
As per the Daily Mail, she was elated with the amount collected and thanked all those who donated. James wrote, "I never in my wildest dreams thought we'd be waking up to this total 24 hours later. I'm actually crying! To think you have raised over £600,000 for vital research is just filling me with so much love. You are the kindest people. Thank you."
As she finished her post, James signed off by thanking her followers for supporting her, encouraging them to enjoy life. "Right now for me it's all about taking it a day at a time, step by step and being grateful for another sunrise. My whole family are around me and we will dance through this together, sunbathing and laughing (I'll cry!!) at every possible moment!" she wrote.
"You are all incredible, thank you for playing your part in my journey. No regrets. Enjoy life. Deborah."
