There has been an outpouring of sadness for Deborah James who has now raised more than £3.5m after confirming she is receiving end-of-life care for bowel cancer. The teacher has sought to raise awareness and understanding of the illness since she was diagnosed in 2016, through writing, broadcasting and campaigning.
The former deputy headteacher, who has presented the BBC Podcast 'You, Me and the Big C', wrote in her blog in January 2017 of the symptoms that led her to tell a doctor she might have bowel cancer. She was 35 at the time, but despite being a vegetarian, a non smoker and not being overweight, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 bowel cancer, Wales Online reports.
Deborah, who wrote a best-selling book called 'F*** you cancer', said she was initially told by her GP she must have IBS because her blood tests and stool sample came back fine. "And yet I was still losing weight, passing blood, going what felt like 100 times per day and feeling shattered. I knew there was something wrong with me," she wrote.
