BBC podcast host Deborah James, 40, who has incurable bowel cancer, reveals she’s been discharged after a month in hospital but says she’s re-learning how to dress herself and is in a ‘very tough’ scenario
- Deborah James, 40, has been discharged after more than a month in hospital
- She continues to receive treatment for sepsis and for her bowel cancer
- Revealed she must re-learn how to walk and how to dress herself in the morning
- Added she remains in a ‘very tough scenario’ with regards to her cancer battle
BBC podcast host Deborah James, who has incurable bowel cancer, has revealed she has been discharged after more than a month in hospital.
The former deputy head teacher turned cancer campaigner, 40, from London, has been living with stage four bowel cancer since she was diagnosed in December 2016, and was told early on that she might not live beyond five years – a milestone that passed in the autumn of 2021.
Most recently the mother-of-two has been battling sepsis but was allowed home last Friday after spending more than a month as an in-patient.
She is now visiting the Royal Marsden Hospital for daily IV treatment and said she is celebrating small victories as she re-learns how to walk and how to dress herself.
BBC podcast host Deborah James, who has incurable bowel cancer, has revealed she has been discharged after more than a month in hospital. Pictured, leaving the Royal Marsden Hospital
Most recently the mother-of-two has been battling sepsis but was allowed home last Friday after spending more than a month as an in-patient. Pictured, Deborah in hospital
Deborah also revealed she remains in a ‘very tough’ situation but that her cancer remains stable and is ‘responding to the drugs’.
‘I’m aware I’ve been quiet on here recently but the last week especially has pushed me to use every ounce of energy to find the strength to get through each day and get home,’ she wrote on Instagram earlier this week.
‘I’ve been in hospital for a month and 2 days, and I cannot tell you how hard it’s been, both mentally and physically to get through this. It’s pushed me to limits I didn’t think existed despite my previous stays.
‘Of course I’ll share with you why over the coming weeks. But for now I just wanted to say thank you for all the incredible messages, the kind and thoughtful gestures, the virtual hug of support that has blown me away since I’ve been in hospital.
Deborah, pictured in an Instagram post, is now visiting the Royal Marsden Hospital for daily IV treatment and said she is celebrating small victories as she re-learns how to walk and how to dress herself
‘I’ve got challenges ahead of me, like always, but for now I get the weekend with my family and that Is the best thing I could ever ask for.’
However things took a turn for the worse when Deborah got home and she had to be taken back into hospital for emergency scans and blood tests
‘I ended up in a lot of tears, a lot of pain on Monday,’ she said in an Instagram update shared yesterday.
While she will remain out of hospital, Deborah will continue to receive outpatient treatment.
She explained: ‘Plan for me is, as much as I want to escape the Marsden, it looks like I have to come in for daily IVs. Hopefully not on Easter Sunday but we’ll see.
‘My husband and my mum, my sister… People have been rallying around to bring me in each day. It’s what I need. I don’t really have a choice with that but I’m lucky to be able to do it as an out-patient rather than an in-patient.’
The cancer campaigner admitted she might have ‘underestimated’ the effects of sepsis on the body and said a full recovery can take a ‘really, really long time’. Pictured, Deborah in hospital
The cancer campaigner admitted she might have ‘underestimated’ the effects of sepsis on the body and said a full recovery can take a ‘really, really long time’.
‘I know there are people who take months and months to recover. I’m only five weeks into it and it’s small steps,’ she said. ‘I forget, I’ve made progress. I don’t think I’ll ever take for granted again being able to walk.
‘I’m having to learn how to walk from the car into the Marsden. I’m having to learn how to get dressed again.’
Deborah is also still receiving treatment for her cancer and says it is a ‘positive light’.
She added: ‘Each time I have CTs it’s showing my cancer is still stable and still responding to the drugs. That’s what we want in this scenario. Even though it’s very tough. I’m not going to lie, I’m in a very tough scenario.’
Family time: Deborah (pictured left) was allowed home to spend Mother’s Day with her family
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