The late Deborah James' mission to raise awareness about bowel cancer continues with the release of her book today (August 18).
The You, Me And The Big C podcast host tragically died in June at the age of 40.
The mum of two had been battling stage 4 bowl cancer for nearly five years, but in May she shared the heartbreaking update that she was receiving end-of-life care.
In her final weeks, Deborah was able to raise over £7million for Cancer Research UK with her BowelBabe fund.
She also finished writing her final book, How to Live When You Could Be Dead, which has now been published.
In it, she opens up about her devastating diagnosis and how she was "completely naive" to the fact that people died from cancer.
She also writes about how she was motivated to make the most of the time that she had left because she was "a ticking time bomb".
Around 49,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK every year, and Deborah spent a significant amount of the time she had left raising awareness so that other people could spot the signs earlier.
As her legacy lives on, here are some of the signs that you should look out for.
What are the signs of bowel cancer?
Signs of bowel cancer are not always obvious and don't just include blood in the poo.
The NHS said that more than 90% of people with bowel cancer have at least one of the common symptoms like the following
- Abdominal pain - bloating, reduction in food eaten or weight loss.
- Blood in the poo - watch for this appearing without other symptoms such as haemorrhoids.
- Change in bowel habit - more frequent trips to the toilet with looser and runnier poos. People should watch out for pain in the abdomen.
Bowel Cancer UK also said that people should watch out for feeling tired for no reason and a pain or lump in the tummy area.
It advised: "Most people with these symptoms don’t have bowel cancer. Other health problems can cause similar symptoms. But if you have one or more of these, or if things just don’t feel right, go to see your GP."
Who was Deborah James?
Deborah James was a popular podcaster and cancer campaigner who publicly lived out her battle with bowel cancer.
The presenter of the BBC podcast You, Me And The Big C was diagnosed with the condition in 2016 and shared every grim detail of the disease.
In her farewell note to followers, she asked people to donate to the Bowelbabe fund set up in her honour - which reached over £1million within the first day and now stands at just under £7million.
She wrote: "As a result, the @bowelbabefund is being established and I’d love nothing more than for you to help it flourish. Please visit bowelbabe.org for all the info and to donate. All I ask if you ever read a column, followed my Instagram, listened to the podcast or saw me dressed as a poo for no reason."
You can read Deborah's full essay for Bowel Cancer UK here.
She continued: "Please buy me a drink to see me out this world, by donating the cost to @bowelbabefund which will enable us to raise funds for further life saving research into cancer. To give more Deborah’s more time.
"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."
You can visit Deborah's Bowelbabe fundraising page here.
