James Valentine reveals the awful moment his wife knew something was terribly wrong with the ABC radio star before his shocking cancer diagnosis – and the nine key symptoms you need to look out for

James Valentine was at a friend’s birthday party in December last year when the first signs suddenly appeared that something was seriously wrong with the ABC radio star.

“My friend Tom has been celebrating his 40th birthday every few years for a while now and it’s a good party,” Valentine recalls.

“But as usual, the bar was free and there was no food.”

Emergency services arrived with three takeaway containers of Thai food delivered to the pub party venue at around 9.30pm and Valentine gobbled up the massaman beef “like a dog courting its mate”.

What happened next led the 62-year-old to seek medical attention and be diagnosed with esophageal cancer.

A few minutes after eating the takeout, Valentine began choking and gagging. His wife Joanne said: “It’s not good.”

As Valentine clung to a pole in the street outside the hotel, Joanne insisted that he go to her sister’s endoscopy clinic for a gastroscopy.

After the procedure, a gastroenterologist confirmed that Valentine was not suffering from some sort of “old man’s reflux.”

“It’s bad,” said the doctor.

“You have a 4cm tumor where your esophagus meets your stomach.”

The ABC Radio Sydney afternoon show presenter’s life changed in an instant.

Valentine revealed details of her cancer diagnosis in a first-person article written for the national broadcaster’s website on Thursday.

At the start of this article, addressed directly to his listeners, the former saxophonist of the Melbourne group Models declared: “At the moment, I’m completely fine.”

In January, Valentine began five weeks of chemotherapy and radiation. He will soon have surgery to remove his esophagus.

“I immediately received chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but only a light dose intended to shrink the tumor and cleanse the body before surgery,” he wrote.

“I was tired from the radiation, the chemo made me feel like my whole body had been covered in liquid aluminum foil, but I could go to work, do x-ray and I even did a concert or two playing the saxophone.”

Surgery to remove Valentin’s cancerous esophagus will be carried out in a few weeks, when his stomach will be stretched and attached to his throat to replace the digestive organ.

“After this, I will most likely feel like crap for a while,” he wrote. “It is likely that I will recover, although it may take a few months.

“I will never eat massaman beef again and I think we are all happy about that.”

An ABC spokesperson said there had been an outpouring of attention and concern for Valentine since Thursday, with listeners offering messages of support.

Valentine presented the ABC’s afternoon program in Sydney for two decades before occupying the breakfast slot for two years until late 2023, when it was announced he would return to his old shift.

There was a hint that Valentine wasn’t doing well on his Facebook page in February when a fan posted “Please stop having Mondayitis, we love hearing from you 5 days a week on (Radio Sydney).”

ABC management has known about Valentine’s diagnosis since December, but the announcer chose not to announce it to its listeners until this week.

“I thought about telling the ABC Radio Sydney audience before this time, but decided I would only return in the afternoon,” he wrote.

“It’s usually a happy sight, so let’s have a good time there for a few months rather than overshadowing all that time with my illness.”

Valentine said he expected to be off the air for two or three months, he wrote in his article.

“I’m going to make sure I’m fully recovered and have my stomach attached to my neck before I attempt to broadcast again.”

TV and radio veteran Tim Webster will fill in for Valentine during his absence.