Fresh health battle for Farnham family

John Farnham’s son has revealed he was fighting his own secret health battle alongside his famous father during a “torturous period” for the family.

John Farnham’s youngest son James has revealed his own secret health battle while his famous father was fighting throat cancer.

On the occasion of his 36th birthday, James opened up via a lengthy Instagram post about the “major surgery” that saved his life last year at the same time his dad was recovering from several operations to treat his cancer.

He said it was absolutely terrifying undergoing emergency surgery after suffering from diverticular disease and ignoring abdominal pain for months which caused his bowel to rupture.

“Last year, just as Dad was recovering from his cancer surgeries, I also had major surgery to deal with diverticular disease that had caused perforations in my bowel,’’ James said.

James Farnham has revealed he went through his own secret health battle while his famous father was battling cancer. Picture: Instagram

“The surgery saved my life but it has left me with a stoma — a surgically created opening in the abdomen that allows me to poo … into a temporary colostomy bag.

“With any luck I will be receiving my reversal surgery in the next couple months.”

James also shared a picture showing his bag and said he felt ready to share his story now to help others. He requested donations to Bowel Cancer Australia and Crohn’s and Colitis Australia.

“I can see now that this whole situation may have been preventable,’’ he continued.

“So I hope that by sharing my story it might help other young people like me to take better care of themselves and take proactive steps to get checked when something doesn’t appear to be right. I was totally shocked to learn how many people (including young people, I can’t stress that enough) receive this diagnosis.

“Coming off the back of what felt like a torturous period that left us emotionally exhausted. It was one thing after another, and when I noticed something felt wrong I kept ignoring it.

“While I felt unwell for a while the whole thing happened very quickly in the end and I didn’t have much time to comprehend what was happening. After the surgery I dealt with fear, isolation, disgust, paranoia and something I've never had before — body image issues. I’ve had to go through a huge psychosocial adjustment.”

James, who is training to become a helicopter pilot, said he was constantly paranoid but found a way through.

“I go to the toilet attached to my belly,’’ he said.

James and Rob Farnham at the opening of the biopic about their dad. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“And I have to clean and prepare this bag every single day. I’m constantly paranoid someone can either smell it or see it, coz it farts with literally no warning. Something I never thought I’d be embarrassed about was now something that brought me to tears. It was almost too much for me to comprehend. Thankfully I had support.”

James thanked staff at Cabrini Malvern for “making me feel comfortable, laugh and kick my butt when needed” and he also thanked his family for their support over the past six months, particularly partner Tessa Effendi who he described as his heart and soul.

Last August, John revealed he was cancer free 12 months after having a 12-hour lifesaving surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his mouth.

The music superstar said in a statement that he was recovering at home and felt like “the luckiest man alive”.

The You’re The Voice singer underwent surgery for throat cancer. Picture: Supplied

He was snapped for the first time in over a year enjoying Christmas lunch with wife Jillian, other son Rob and friends and family.

Effendi also posted about James’ scary situation in tribute to him on his birthday.

“2023 was meant to be a year of healing and new beginnings for us both,’’ she wrote.

“Literally the week James was meant to go back on tour working, start flying again and continue promotional work for his father’s documentary was also the same week myself and Kara were hosting our very first retreat together, instead we found ourselves in a very scary situation.

“I call it the year of false starts. We’ve been navigating a new way of life and while it was very isolating and emotional we managed to somehow find our way of doing things. I’m so proud of you James every day … I can’t say I would’ve handled this with as much grace as you have.

“When I see you being brave and telling people what’s happened... I think to myself I would’ve been a recluse, no way I'd show people… No matter what life keeps throwing at us we always seem to get through it together! So here’s to you my s … bag.”