They referred to it as a**L cancer. So not sure that that would be colon cancer. I would have thought that they would have used that term if it was.

Also, there is one chemotherapy that can be deadly for a person with CMT. It is Vincristine. It can either kill you or leave you just lying there not able to do anything. That particular one was tried by a local younger fellow who had cancer (non CMTer) and he could not take it either and they stopped that one. It affected the peripheral nerves, etc. He was horribly sick, weak, tingling hands, feet as well from it; almost numb. They used another kind again and eventually he did pass away. He had been fighting this for awhile. It started with testicular cancer back when he was in his early 20's. He died in his early 40's.

Yes, he lost his hair which I'm sure he didn't care about. He also was white like a ghost during this. After being free from cancer for quite a few years, cancer came back and it spread everywhere despite treatments.

So there are some horrible kinds of chemotherapy out there.

I guess it won't let me say what they said her cancer was so you will have to guess.

AN-AL cancer. That's what my uncle had, not colon cancer. The treatments are very very hard on the body. He gave up within months and didn't last as long as Farrah did. No one blamed him. His biggest regret was not going to the doctor when he first started having problems. He thought he had hemorrhoids.

Anyway, no matter how anyone feels about Farrah's hair, I highly doubt she chose a lessor chemo to avoid losing it. Her doctors were right there the whole time giving her advice and helping her make decisions on her treatment. Doctors will sometimes advice the lessor treatment if that said treatment has shown promise rather than start aggressive forms of chemo. We have to remember there were several months that she was tumor free because of the other chemos. I'm not a doctor so this is my opinion only.

The bottom line is it was HER choice and that's what we all want in our life decisions right? We want to make those choices. When I was younger I always said if I got cancer I would want a more than 50% survival chance. If they couldn't give that, then let me go and live my life because I don't want to be sick my last days. That has changed now that I have someone who I am accountable for and needs me. I'll fight to the death now, no pun intended. Bald even though momma always said it is the hair that makes the woman.

My husband's cancer was both in the a**l area and his lower colon. You know at the time he was going through the whole surgery, radiation, chemo, the farthest thing from his mind was if he was going to be left with an ostemy bag the rest of his life. He was so happy that the treatments seemed to be working for him.

But here he is, over a year later, and of course he is thankful to be here.... but also now he has to deal with living with an ostemy bag, no s*xual function, and neuropathy of the feet. It not only a constant reminder, but a constant source of pain and discomfort.

He was so determined to stay normal that he worked all the way through his six months of chemo, when he so didn't feel like it. But it was the aftermath of the neuropathy and knots in his intestines from surgeries that final put him on disability. I've heard it said if the cancer doesn't get you, the treatment will. I say that, not to be amusing or not to even agree, just that I can see why some people say it.

Just rambling.... it's a hard topic with many many people affected by it.

Hugs to anyone who has had to deal with it at all on any level!

It was our, used to be, pcp who did a colonoscopy on my husband and evidently read it wrong. He said that it my be SMALL internal hemroids that might need to be removed Some day!!! So we tend to believe our drs. He put up with it for almost two years and then we went looking in an entirely new medical system and found out immediately that it was cancer.

My husband had kept saying that he felt like he was sitting on a basketball... and when he fianlly had emergency surgery, the surgeon had to remove it where it was attached so all sides of his pelvis and other things.

It is truly a miracle of God that he survived. And he is living his life for God now. It's funny how things reshuffle our pirorities for us!

Hey, Brain, thanks. I had the impression that in the initial consultations, there were something like 28 chemo choices for them to try and the hair loss came up, then she was given the options. The way I understood it, none of the potential chemos were meant, or ideal, to treat her specific brand of anvil cancer, so, one was as good as another and she asked to start with the ones that would longest let her keep her hair. Maybe I assumed it (?).

Here nor there, I agree with those who commented on the need to keep as much "normal" as possible. I watched a close friend lose her long battle with cancer and when the hair loss really kicked in, it devastated her far more than even she had expected. We really, truly can't know what our minds and hearts would do in that situation.

Cyn, do make an effort to catch it, it was quite enlightening and I have a great deal of respect for her, and her man, after seeing it.

I have mixed feelings about this subject.

So I looked up this cancer type that Farrah Fawcett has.

This link is very revealing in that poor lifestyle choices are highly
implicated in this particular type of cancer.
http://www.fhcrc.org/about/ne/news/2...nalcancer.html
People who do not practice safe sex, who smoke, or who have STDs are most likely to get this.

I have great sympathy for anyone with cancer. It is a horrible disease, which causes much suffering. My FIL died of throat cancer and also did a cousin of my husband. Both were devastating, long painful deaths.

What seems to bother me is the media attention and public focus on this situation. I have never been a fan of either Farrah or Ryan O'Neal. I always was rather repelled by the dysfunction of O'Neal and how often his whole life's behavior revolved around drugs and acting out. So I ignored him for the most part. The fact that Farrah stays with HIM, reveals her participation in this lifestyle.

It strikes me that people with narcissistic needs seem to attract public attention even with their deaths. I think rather than glorifying the suffering (as is my impression of Farrah's current plight), more attention should be paid to educating people on avoiding the risk factors that can lead to this awful disease.

When Katie Couric's husband died of colon cancer, she was very active in promoting prevention. This to me, seems more
publicly beneficial. And what do we hear about Farrah?
Her hair, of course.

Birth and Death are private matters IMO. We come into this world alone and leave alone. Making a public spectacle of either just really bothers me.

Farrah made some bad choices in lifestyle and treatment.
That is unfortunate for her. But I do think the public could be spared that attention. Showing her lingering death before she has even passed, just disturbs me, and I suspect others feel this conflict too. I would like to feel complete compassion, instead of this mixed response I have about this situation.

All cancer patients are brave. But their courage is not on TV, as a rule. (The health channels typically show their stories). I find Farrah's public display more for HER than for us.

According to this article...:
"**** cancer is on the rise in both sexes, particularly among American men, and changing trends in sexual behavior — combined with current tobacco use and infection by a specific strain of the human papillomavirus — may help explain the increase."

My husband had none of the above characteristics and still got cancer in that region. I would hate for anyone to judge him as having this lifestyle. I guess he did smoke in his teen years, but worked very hard to quit after our first baby was born and hasn't smoked since.

With him, he had to be cramped up in tight quarters welding in power plant boilers for almost 30 years. Sitting a lot of time on cold metal. I wonder if that didn't have something to do with it. But that is just a guess.

yes, as the article stated, about 1% of all cancers are of this type.

Of those about 88% have HPV as a trigger.

As with all medical things, there are always exceptions.

But of all the cancers out there the numbers are showing that lifestyle plays an important part, in this one.

I sort of think Farrah is doing all this media stuff before her death maybe to deflect the response to the type of cancer she has. I really didn't know much about this type of cancer until I read that article with the newest information on it.

Since smoking is such a huge factor, there may be other toxins that may later be found to be a contributor. (firefighters are exposed to awful toxins in their jobs, for example).
I am sorry your hubby, Friend2U went thru that. I hesitated in even making the post, but I have such mixed feelings about the publicity, that I finally caved.

It is just another example of the media doing things that bother me. One reason among many I don't watch TV much anymore, with all that triggering content!

That may be true for some, but not my uncle.

I really don't like the publicity surrounding this issue.

The type of cancer is really not the main issue at all...unless one wants to go into "prevention" aspects of the publicity which seem to avoid this completely.

If this documentary had been done AFTER her passing, and in a different way in the media, it would be different.
The focus now is on Farrah, and that is what bothers me.
(and I wonder if money is the issue as well, since there is a law suit already on the table).

I didn't put my opinion up to offend anyone or accuse anyone.

And I really learned a lot by searching the incidence of this type of cancer. It is not common by any means, even tho its incidence is rising.

Environmental toxins are coming for all of us, and HPV is a huge public health factor that will affect all our children!

Both of our family members who died of throat cancer, smoked.
And you know what? The daughter of the cousin (who was a nurse), and who is a nurse, still smokes! (and she states it! --and claims she needs the smoking!) How frustrating is that for family members?

And I need to lose some weight!