By Dan Sevigny, Community Contributor -- Published: May 15, 2009
On October 4, 2006, it had been revealed that Fawcett was suffering from anal cancer,[20] and was undergoing treatment, including chemotherapy and surgery.Four months later, on her 60th birthday, the Associated Press wire service reported that Fawcett was, at that point, cancer free. Fawcett said in a statement, "This is an extraordinarily happy day for me and my family. I hope that my news might offer some level of inspiration to others who unfortunately must continue to fight the disease."
Farrah Fawcett is still alive but has been mostly bedridden for the last few weeks. She is reportedly "ready to go" and has "lived a long and happy life". Farrah's 91 year-old father is being flown in to see her off.
Ryan and Richmond O'neil (Farrah's son and husband) were arrested earlier this year in a drug related disturbance - despite the tensions in her family, it seems that she has made peace with the conditions of her life and feels she has done her part to spread a message of hope.
The full story from Wikipedia.org:
Less than four months later, in May 2007, Fawcett brought a small digital video camera to document a doctor's office visit. There, she was told a malignant polyp was found in the area where she had been treated for the initial cancer. Doctors contemplated whether to implant a radiation seeder (which differs from conventional radiation and is used to treat other types of cancer). Fawcett's U.S. doctors told her the cancer was inoperable and that she would require a colostomy. Fawcett, however, chose to travel with O'Neal to Germany for treatments reported by the press as holistic but which proved to be "unique and aggressive".
There, Dr. Ursula Jacob prescribed a treatment including surgery to remove the anal tumor, and a course of profusion and embolization for her liver cancer by Doctors Claus Kiehling and Thomas Vogl in Germany, and chemotherapy back in Fawcett's home town of Los Angeles. Although initially the tumors were regressing, their reappearance a few months later necessitated a new course, this time including laser therapy. Fawcett, aided by friend Alana Stewart, documented the highs and lows of Fawcett's battle with the disease.
On April 4, 2009, it was reported that Fawcett, back in the U.S., had been rushed to a hospital several days earlier, where she was unconscious and in critical condition. Subsequent reports, however, indicated that the severity of her condition was not as dire as first reported. An April 6, 2009, AP article reported that her cancer had metastasized to her liver. Fawcett had learned of this development in May 2007 and her subsequent treatments in Germany had targeted this as well. The report denied that she was unconscious, and illuminated that the reason for Fawcett's hospitalization was not her cancer but a painful abdominal hematoma that had been the result of a minor procedure, according to the Los Angeles cancer specialist treating Fawcett, Dr. Lawrence Piro.
Her spokesperson emphasized she was not "at death's door", adding "She remains in good spirits with her usual sense of humor ... She's been in great shape her whole life and has an incredible resolve and an incredible resilience."
Three days later, on April 9, Fawcett was released from the hospital, picked up by longtime companion O'Neal, and, according to her doctor, was "walking and in great spirits and looking forward to celebrating Easter at home."
A month later, on May 7, Fawcett was reported as being critically ill, with O'Neal quoted as saying that she now spends her days at home, on an IV, often asleep. The Los Angeles Times reported that Fawcett is in the last stages of her cancer and had the chance to see her son Redmond in April 2009 under supervision, as he is currently incarcerated. Her 91-year-old father James was being flown out to visit with his ailing daughter. O'Neal said she wrote her father a note which read "I've lived a full and wonderful life. I've loved and been loved. I'm happy. I'm ready."
As of mid-May 2009, Farrah Fawcett is continuing to receive chemotherapy to thwart the spread of cancer. Her doctor, Lawrence Piro, and Fawcett's friend and Angels co-star Kate Jackson—a breast cancer survivor—appeared together on The Today Show dispelling rumors—including that Fawcett had never been in a coma, had never reached 86 pounds, and had never given up her fight against the disease or lost the will to live—as had all been reported in the tabloid press.
Jackson decried such demoralizing fabrications, saying they "really do hurt a human being and a person like Farrah". Piro recalled when it became necessary for Fawcett to undergo treatments that would cause her to lose her hair, acknowledging that "Farrah probably has the most famous hair in the world," but acknowledged that it is not a trivial matter for any cancer patient, whose hair "affects (one's) whole sense of who (they) are". Of the documentary, Jackson averred that Fawcett "didn't do this to show that she is unique, she did it to show that we are all unique... (T)his was...meant to be a gift to others to help and inspire them."
The two-hour documentary, Farrah's Story, filmed by Fawcett and friend Alana Stewart, aired on NBC on May 15, 2009.
I watched Farrah's Story last night and I must admit it brought me to tears for her, Farrah led a charmed life and she was never a media whore.the end is very near for her. God Bless her and her family
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Originally Posted by RaVen Blackehart
If ya can't laugh at yourself...guarranteed someone else will.
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