It is almost a year since Dame Deborah James lost her battle with cancer and for her friend and fellow You, Me And The Big C podcast host Lauren Mahon it’s been 12 months of change.
“Something happened after Deb died,” explains Lauren.
“Both she and Rachael [Bland, their podcast co-host] were keen for me to move on. Because I’d had the all-clear from cancer they would both say, ‘If we were in your position we’d f**k off and run away.’
“Now I no longer see myself as a cancer recoverer. I just see myself as Lozza. I have a lot more balance in life. I think they would have been pleased with that.
“Plus, I have lots more I want to do and achieve, and the girls wanted that for me too.”
Today, that ambition is manifesting itself in the game-changing swimwear collection she is launching, designed for women who have undergone cancer surgery.
It’s her second collaboration with fashion retailer Pretty Little Thing and features gorgeous bold shades and patterns in styles specifically created to disguise scar tissue, conceal stoma and ileostomy bags and be secure for breast inserts while still looking stylish.
What might Deb have thought of the project?
“She’d be fuming – they both would – at the thought they can’t wear it!” laughs Lauren, who was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago at the age of 31. She has been cancer-free for five years.
“Deb would definitely have turned up at the shoot too – no way would she have missed it – and she would have loved it.”
Dame Deborah, who is better known as Bowelbabe, inspired millions with her fight against bowel cancer.
Together with Lauren and journalist Rachael, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, they began presenting You, Me And The Big C in 2018. It garnered huge attention, won countless awards and was lauded for its frankness and humour about living with cancer.
Rachael died in 2018, Deborah four years later. The Bowelbabe Fund For Cancer Research was set up to continue Deb’s legacy.
Lauren, who has now stepped away from the podcast, is herself the not inconsiderable force behind Girl vs Cancer – catchline “the coolest club you never want to be part of”.
Its website, full of honest and relatable information dedicated to empowering those dealing with cancer, is as bright and funny as its originator. She established it after her own diagnosis, determined to “shake up” the conversation around cancer.
“When I was diagnosed, there was still a lack of openness about the disease. People felt isolated and ashamed and a lot of the time information was aimed at much older people,” she explains.
“But nobody’s ‘the cancer patient’, we’re all individuals and cancer’s not about being bald or clinical language or dying. We’re humans first.
“Changing the conversation is what we did with the podcast and what we want to do with the swimwear collaboration. We need to put cancer front and centre in unexpected places – like on the beach!”
Does she miss the podcast?
She pauses her 10-to-the-dozen speech pattern for a moment.
“I miss the family we had on the podcast. I miss the laughs and the fun. But I don’t miss the impact it had on me emotionally and mentally.
“Sometimes I would be dreading the recording. I didn’t want to relive the trauma of what had happened to me or interview others who I knew we were going to lose.”
And she is adamant there is still a way to go when it comes to discussions around cancer and how those diagnosed are treated.
“I feel those with stage four are still treated as second-class citizens and they deserve more. All people want is more life, more memories.”
She has hinted there may be podcast specials in the future, but for now her life feels busy enough.
A month after Deb died, Lauren got a dog, Raymond, a miniature schnauzer, who she clearly adores.
“The girls always said they were on the lookout for a bloke for me, they just never specified what species!”
Aside from Girl vs Cancer, Lauren has her own website in the pipeline, as well as a new podcast, But You Can Call Me , where she will interview celebrities.
And, of course, there’s also the PLT swimwear collection.
“I’m really thrilled with it. We used real women to inform us what they wanted and what would work and real women to model the collection. And they looked amazing on the day. It was their time to shine.”
It seems it is Lauren’s too.
“I’ve been sitting in this world of cancer for some time but I don’t want it to be my whole identity,” she reflects. “This is the next chapter. And yes, I think Deb and Rachael would be proud of me.”
All proceeds from the collection will go to the Girl vs Cancer charity.
Bowel babe’s legacy is going strong a year on
By Rhona Mercer
It’s hard to believe she’s been gone a year, but 28 June is the first anniversary of Dame Deborah James’ death. Deborah – also known as Bowelbabe – died from bowel cancer at the age of 40, but her incredible legacy lives on.
And few people feel that more than Kate Eastwood, who says it’s because of Deborah that she was able to catch her own bowel cancer so early.
Almost 43,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK every year, and Kate, 59, tells us that it was Deborah’s relentless campaigning to raise awareness about the symptoms that prompted her to make a doctor’s appointment.
ONE IN FOUR STILL DOESN’T KNOW THE SYMPTOMS
An alarming number of people are still unfamiliar with the symptoms of bowel cancer, according to Genevieve Edwards, chief executive at Bowel Cancer UK.
She says: “Our new research shows that over a quarter of people can’t name a single symptom of the disease, which are changes in bowel habit, bleeding from your bottom, blood in your poo, unexplained weight loss, extreme tiredness and a pain or lump in your tummy.
“If you’re experiencing any of these, call your GP straightaway. “We would urge everyone to take inspiration from people like Kate and the late Dame Deborah and check your poo – it could save your life”
LEARN HOW TO SPOT THE SIGNS:
There are other lesser-known signs that something could be wrong with your colon. These include:
ANAEMIA: If you’re anaemic it could mean that you’re bleeding internally, even if you don’t have any other symptoms.
SHORTNESS OF BREATH: This can also be a sign of internal bleeding.
FEELING BLOATED: This, along with stomach cramps, can be down to all sorts of things, but if symptoms persist, consult your GP.
SKINNY STOOLS: If you’ve noticed the shape of your stools has become narrower, it could be a sign there’s a restriction in the colon. Severe constipation or persistent diarrhoea could also be a sign that you need to get checked out.
DARK, TARRY STOOLS: This could indicate there is blood in your bowel movements. It could be caused by something less serious, such as an ulcer, but it can also be a sign of cancer.
‘I felt so grateful to Deborah’
Here Kate, who has three daughters and three grandchildren, explains why she will be eternally thankful for everything Dame Deborah did.
"I was 58 when I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. I remember listening to [Dame Deborah] talk so publicly about how important it is to check your poo. But then I just slotted the information to the back of my mind, because you watch these things thinking they’re never going to happen to you.
“Then in October 2021, I noticed blood in my poo. If I hadn’t had that knowledge stored away, I possibly would’ve ignored it for longer. But I’d remembered Deborah saying that if she’d been diagnosed six months earlier, her story would have been so different. So I monitored it for three weeks and it still wasn’t right.
“At first the doctors thought there wasn’t anything wrong, but then they did a biopsy on a polyp they’d found and the cells behind it were cancerous. They thought it was stage one initially, but I then had fairly major surgery, where I had the whole of my rectum removed. And when they did that I was told my cancer was actually stage two.
“Following that, I had an ileostomy [an operation to form a stoma that directs waste products from your small intestine] and I had a stoma bag for three months, which basically allowed my bowel to heal. It’s one year on now and I’m fine.
“I didn’t have chemo as they’d caught it early and now I’m no more likely to relapse or get it again than anybody else.
“When I had my surgery last March, Dame Deborah was very ill and I was reading her updates while I was recuperating. I was counting my blessings every day and felt so grateful to her for everything she had done to raise awareness. She had such grace right to the very end and the Bowelbabe fund has raised £11.3 million, which is just phenomenal.
“I wanted to raise some money for Bowel Cancer Awareness Month in April, and turned to crocheting. I’d made little crocheted ‘happy poos’ for my consultant and for the stoma nurses and they loved them. So I made another 50 and sold them to family and friends and raised £780, which I donated to Bowel Cancer UK.
“Deborah managed to engage people and remained positive despite the fact that she knew how her journey was going to end. She was so gracious.”
For more information about bowel cancer, go to bowelcanceruk.org.uk
