Broadcasting legend and Childline founder Dame Esther Rantzen has announced she is moving her family Christmas celebrations forward this year to increase her chances of being alive to enjoy them.
Facing a dual cancer diagnosis
The 85-year-old, who was first diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in January 2023, revealed she has now received a second, completely different cancer diagnosis that requires chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment.
"This year I am planning an 'official' Christmas with my children and five grandchildren, slightly ahead of the real Christmas, so that there will be more chance that I am actually alive to enjoy it with them," Dame Esther wrote in The Times.
She described the experience of being "attacked" by two different types of cancer simultaneously as "quite annoying," though she admitted she's unsure of the exact form of her new cancer diagnosis.
Living with 'scanxiety' and treatment decisions
Dame Esther shared that she has stopped all current medical treatment after her doctor advised that the side effects would outweigh the benefits. Despite both cancers progressing, a recent scan showed this was happening "very slowly."
The television personality also opened up about a mental health challenge she "never expected" - "scanxiety," a term coined by cancer patients to describe the rising anxiety levels before each scan.
"Since I have no idea what is actually happening inside my own body, but every scan, every three or four months, carries with it the possibility of bad news, as the date approaches, my anxiety levels rise," she explained.
The campaign for assisted dying continues
Dame Esther has become a leading voice in the campaign to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. Earlier this year, she confirmed she had made arrangements to travel to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland alone, as family members who accompany her could face police investigation under current laws.
"I know I won't live long enough to see Leadbeater's bill become law, and the current cruel, messy criminal law means I may have to die alone in Zurich instead of surrounded by my loving family in my home," she stated.
She expressed her "great hope" that the Assisted Dying Bill, championed by MP Kim Leadbeater, would pass through Parliament in 2026, though she doesn't expect to survive long enough to witness it.
The bill would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a specialist panel.
Dame Esther began her broadcasting career as a sound effects assistant at BBC Radio before finding fame presenting consumer affairs programme That's Life! from 1973. Her work led to the establishment of Childline in 1986 and The Silver Line for elderly people in 2013.
