Anybody see Farrah's Story?

 

Question --- do you really think chemo drug decisions were made considering the HAIR ?  The implication was there at one point, but maybe I read more into it.

 

Am I the only one who watched it ?

 

Jessie

 

I'm certainly not making any judgement about decisions made --- lord knows there's no right/wrong to this.  I was simply curious and wondered if the chemo drugs given for anal cancer are so different from those given for breast cancer that saving the hair was an option.   

 

I applaud her for allowing herself to be filmed in such unattractive situations, but I'm not really surprised.  Of course she was a sex goddess and absolutely beautiful, but her acting was also top notch.  In her very best movies she played parts that required her being filmed in extremely ugly and unsexy situations.

 

I hope her film will further the research into anal cancer --- we certainly can identify with her frustration at having a cancer that isn't receiving as much attention and study as other cancers.

 

Jessie

 

Linda

oh, on a happier note... I graduated with my masters degree on Saturday!! I went thru chemo, surgery, and radiatin thru my last two semesters of school. (patting myself on the back here :)

so so happy about not letting cancer keep me from school.

 

I also watched Farrah's Story, and while I had several of the same questions being asked here, overall I thought the program was very well done.  I watched it alone since my husband worked late on the night it aired, and in many ways I'm glad I did.  It was overwhelmingly emotional for me.  There were times when I just sat there sobbing, and it actually took me a couple days to really shake those feelings.  It wasn't because it was Farrah, although I truly admire her willingness to share such raw details about what she's going through.  It's more that she is just one of too many people facing this horrible disease and gathering the courage and strength to battle on, no matter what the prognosis or the treatment may be.  We have all had to find wells of fortitude in places we never knew we had it, and we've been forced to put to the test our primal instinct of self-preservation by fighting an enemy we can't see that is inside of ourselves.

 

I am a survivor and am considered NED, but I am only too aware that I am one of the lucky ones.  Watching the program brought back those early days of my diagnosis and the feelings of terror that this was happening to me.  I cried because of all the people who hear news that is far more dire than mine.  It is unbearable news, but you must go on no matter what.

 

I read that it was watched by close to 9 million people that night, and I hope that it opened people's eyes to what so many people are facing every day.  Despite the fact that we, on the inside, can find fault with some of what we saw, I think the overall message is a powerful one for poeple who may not have ever thought about what it means to be diagnosed with and treated for cancer.

 

Unfortunately, the same unfairness that brings cancer into our lives also separates famous people into a class of their own.  But in seeing Farrah's Story, I think that the perks that she (or any star) has is balanced, or even overbalanced, by the extreme public-ness that their lives become as a result of fame.  As I watched this, I thought how awful it is to have to deal with treatment (which we all know is bad enough) as well as having rude and insensitive people sticking cameras in your face while you're in pain.

 

That being said, I thought the program was well done.  I forced myself to watch it, even though I squirmed through more than one part.  At the end when she said, "Today I'm fighting for my life.  What are you fighting for?"  I know this was probably addressed to the non-cancer people who were watching, but it struck me in my soul.  So I salute you, Farrah, for your strength and courage in letting your story be told, hairy warts and all, and I salute you, my sisters in this forum, who fight every day in private.

 

There is a big advertisement along the side of one of the freeways here in Phoenix for Cancer Centers of America which says, "Those that say that winning isn't everything haven't had to deal with cancer."  Amen to that!  Let's hope that programs like this lead to a 100% for everyone.

 

Love you all!    Diane