THE Sun’s Deborah James today told how she is facing a rollercoaster of emotions as she nears her 40th birthday.
As she approaches the milestone day on Friday, she revealed she is constantly thinking of friends tragically lost to cancer.
Appearing on Lorraine this morning she said: “I think it’s one of the things I think about as I approach my 40th.
“When I was first diagnosed, I was diagnosed with metastatic bowel cancer and very sadly, without waving too many statistics around a very small handful of people will make it to the five years mark.
“Which is why I’m sitting here celebrating my 40th.
“What I keep thinking about is the 92 per cent who aren’t here, they are my friends who I’ve said goodbye to.
“Even thinking about it it’s what’s almost shaking me up because I was very close to things a couple of months ago.
“Now suddenly I think about all those people who I have said goodbye to who aren’t making those milestones. And I don’t know what the future looks like but that’s why we keep campaigning.”
It comes after she wrote in the Sun how getting to her 40th – a birthday she wasn’t expected to make – was the best present.
She explained how this year she was closer to death than ever before – after the drugs that had kept her alive for years stopped working.
A tumour wrapped around her bile duct started to grow again, and as a result her liver began to fail.
On June 23, she was rushed to hospital for an emergency operation to insert a stent into her liver to try to reverse the organ failure – thankfully it worked and she could have chemo again.
This morning she was joined by her mum, Heather, who surprised her with a birthday cake topped with a poo made of icing.
Deborah, known as Bowel Babe through her efforts to educate people on the signs of bowel cancer, laughed as she spotted the cheeky decoration.
Since Deborah was diagnosed in 2016 she has documented her journey for her social media followers and Sun readers.
And she was sent messages ahead of her big day from friends and family who have been with her every step of the way.
Steve Bland, the husband of Deborah’s late friend and co-host of You, Me and the Big C, Rachel, told her how much her friendship meant to them.
