My body can not continue: presenter with terminal cancer - Health

A UK podcast host has said a final goodbye to her Instagram followers after six years of treatment for bowel cancer.

“My body can’t take it anymore,” Deborah James confessed in a moving post on the social network, where she pointed out that she doesn’t know how long she has left to live.

Deborah James is the presenter of the BBC podcast You, Me and the Big C (referring to the c of cancer), which addresses the day-to-day life of people with the disease.

She stated that the last six months have been “heartbreaking” for her, but that she is “surrounded by love”.

“The Message I Never Wanted to Write”

James was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and has since posted several posts about her treatment for her over 300,000 Instagram followers.

In December she reflected on the five years that had passed since her terminal cancer diagnosis: “I am fully aware that I should not be alive to write this today.”

But, in a new Instagram post on Monday, he claimed to be posting “the message I never wanted to write.”

James said he had already stopped therapy for his cancer and was now focusing on avoiding pain and being able to spend time with his “wonderful family.”

“No one knows how much time I have left, but I can’t walk, I sleep most of the day, and most of the things I thought were guaranteed are now distant dreams,” he said.

“I know we’re looking at all the possibilities. But even with all the innovative cancer treatments in the world, or even if there was a magical new breakthrough, my body just can’t keep up.”

day by day, step by step

The presenter announced that the Bowelbabe fund, named after her Instagram account, will be created to finance personalized medicine research for cancer patients and support colon cancer awareness campaigns.

James began hosting the You, Me and the Big C podcast in 2018, which received widespread praise for candidly addressing the subject of cancer.

Rachel Bland, another of the presenters, died at the age of 40, six months after the launch of the program. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer two years earlier.

In her Instagram post, James said: “Right now, for me, the goal is to go day by day, step by step, and be grateful for each new dawn.”

“My whole family is around me and we will dance together, sunbathe and laugh (I’m going to cry!!) whenever possible!”

He also thanked his fans for “playing their part in my journey” before signing off with the words: “No regrets. Enjoy life.”

Now you can receive notifications from BBC World. Download the new version of our app and activate it so you don’t miss out on our best content.