Bowel Cancer, Journal   Comments Off on 18/08/2022   18 August 2022

Today, like for thousands of others, my copy of How To Live When You Could Be Dead by the late Dame Deborah James arrived. I am looking forward to reading it, but knowing that it is going to be an emotional read as well. Deborah was a one off. I know we all felt like we knew her, and the outpouring of love and support for her and the Bowelbabe Fund is testament to everything Deborah was about. My thoughts remain with her family, who have lost a mother, daughter and wife.

In her final weeks the Bowelbabe Fund raised millions of pounds and these funds will hopefully mean fewer patients and their families will go through what Deborah went through. The fund is raising money to fund clinical trials and research into personalised medicine for cancer patients and supporting campaigns to raise awareness of bowel cancer. My own contribution to the fund has been the Bowelbabe Teddy Bears which received tremendous support. 100% of the profits from every sale are donated to the Bowelbabe Fund.

Sadly, today more than ever, there are many stage 4 cancer patients waiting for appointments, scans and treatment plans. It is simply not good enough to make these patients feel neglected and pushed to the bottom of the pile. Not only do these patients not have the luxury of time, when there is so much that can change so quickly with cancer, but the effect that these waiting times are having on their mental health is unacceptable. At times like this, a voice like Deborah’s would have been very loud indeed.