James Valentine: Surgeon reveals how he will save ABC radio host’s life with incredible cancer surgery performed only 12 times a year

A surgeon set to perform potentially life-saving operations on radio star James Valentine has detailed the complicated process of the operation, which is only performed a dozen times a year.

The 62-year-old announced on Thursday that he had cancer and that he would undergo surgery in the coming weeks to have his esophagus removed.

The ABC Radio Sydney afternoons host shared his diagnosis in a first-person piece written for the national broadcaster’s website.

On Thursday afternoon, Valentine discussed his condition further on air and interviewed his surgeon, Associate Professor Douglas Fenton-Lee, from St Vincent’s Hospital.

Valentine has a four-centimeter tumor where his esophagus and stomach meet.

Dr. Fenton-Lee said the operation would remove most of Valentine’s esophagus, along with a quarter of his stomach.

“We’re then going to raise your stomach – we actually shape it so that it’s a tubular structure and we raise it and join it together at your neck, so we replace your esophagus with your stomach,” he said on ABC Radio.

He added that the procedure is not common.

“The unit would do about 12 cases a year and I did the majority of them,” the surgeon said.

The news of Valentine’s diagnosis shocked many across the country, especially those who had listened to his current radio for more than two decades.

The 62-year-old revealed on Thursday that he had cancer and would undergo surgery in the coming weeks to have his esophagus removed.

One of his many benefactors is NSW Premier Chris Minns.

“I grew up with James on the radio – our WhatsApp chat with the extended family blew up yesterday afternoon, almost with sadness,” he told ABC Radio Sydney.

‘[James] is a wonderful institution in Sydney and I sincerely wish him the best… I think all of Sydney is behind him.”

Mr Minns said he and his wife Anna had even been callers on the Valentine’s Day programme.

Mrs. Minns was a regular on the What I Live With segment, where she joked about her husband’s annoying habit of pausing the TV to laugh after a joke.

Fellow ABC radio host Richard Glover said: ‘Few people have spread so much joy among their fellow citizens and we need you to spread even more quickly.’

Valentine previously revealed that after a friend’s birthday party in December last year, he realized something was wrong.

He said he started choking and gagging after shoving down a massaman curry.

ABC radio star James Valentine (pictured) has been on the air at ABC Radio for more than two decades

At that time, his wife advised him to go to her sister’s endoscopy clinic for a gastroscopy.

In January, Valentine began five weeks of chemotherapy and radiation.

“I was immediately given chemo and radiation, but only a mild dose intended to shrink the tumor and clean out the body before surgery,” he wrote.

‘I got tired from the radiation, the chemo made me feel like my whole body was laced with liquid aluminum foil, but I was able to go to work, turn on the radio and even do a few gigs with the saxophone.’

The surgery to remove Valentine’s esophageal cancer will be performed in a few weeks.

“I’ll probably feel like crap for a long time afterward,” he wrote. ‘It is likely that I will recover, even if it may take several months.’

Valentine presented the ABC’s Sydney afternoon program for 20 years before holding down breakfast for two years until late 2023, when it was announced he would return to his old shift.

He told listeners on Friday that he had “no doubt” he would be back on the air as soon as possible, and thanked those who offered messages of support.

“Not to be too macabre, but it’s like being at your own funeral and the eulogies were a lot of fun,” he said.

Veteran television and radio broadcaster Tim Webster will fill in for Valentine in his absence.

ABC radio host James Valentine (right) is pictured with actress Leah McLeod