There is a lot to hate about television these days. Endless inanities about 'celebrities' or vicious attacks on ordinary citizens while
paparazzi sip on drinks out of plastic straws with their hats on backwards plotting their next 'sighting' or plan of attack on some unsuspecting celeb. And then there is the political landscape, rife with hatred and vicious attacks because there is a disagreement on this or that issue.
And then there was "Farrah's Story".
Two hours of some of the best, hard hitting , sympathetic and moving television I have seen in many a day.
Farrah Fawcett's own story of her battle with Cancer. Unflinching, it follows Farrah's story from the first time she was diagnosed with Anal Cancer through to all of the treatment in the US and her trips to Germany for 'alternative' treatment. Especially the excruciating liver treatments.
I can think of no more torture than to go through what Farrah has gone through.After all has been said and done she now lies at death's door hardly knowing her own son's face. Watching that scene, where the authorities allowed 'Red' to come to see his mother, they refused to remove the leg shackles. He had to clank into his sick mother's room clanking.
Farrah of the beautiful hair and face. Her beauty and strength are not skin deep we find in this harrowing account of Farrah's Fight to stay alive and 'get her life back'.
After two years of treatments she's had a short spate of what we might call normality. Only to be told by Dr's in the US that the Cancer had returned . I can find no more striking scene as that moment when she learned that all she had been through had been for naught. Those men sat there and let her cry. Thank God Ryan was there. Yet, she arose, smiled , said 'Thank You' as though they had served her a wonderful dinner instead of a death sentence, and left that awful place.
And THEN they really went to work on her: Dr's said it was time for their "A" Game and Farrah would lose her hair. Even when she did lose her hair, she was in control. She cut it off herself when it began to fall out, leaving bangs at the front for her little hats she wore. On film she took off her little hat and rubbed her bald head and fluffed her bangs.
I cried. So brave. So wonderful. So hopeful.
It was not all she would lose. Nothing worked. Somehow, in the very beginning, when they used radiation, they damaged tissues. That seemed the beginning of the future troubles not the end. It had spread to the liver. Radical and painful treatment would be called for.
Yet, Farrah Fawcett remained Brave. Stoic. Good Natured. Hoepful. Defiant. She withstood it all.
Wonderfully Grateful for Life and her friends and family.
I simply do not know how Alana Stewart could stand it. But she was there all the way, filming at Farrah's behest, even in her worst moments she insisted Alana film. Sick, straining, in great pain, she wanted it all on film.
Ryan O'Neal was there to support her and be with her all the way. It is clear they love each other very much. The scenes between them are touching and heartbreaking.
Jacyln Smith and Kate Jackson were there and very supportive.
This is the story of Cancer. What it does to people. What it does to their loved ones. What the medical profession does and does NOT do and at the end Farrah has one question that resonates: WHY? Why did she have to travel to Germany for 'Alternative " treatment ( where, by the way, she received much more compassion and understanding than ever exhibited stateside.)
And another question comes to mind while watching this all unfold. : IF you have the money and wherewithall, you CAN seek alternative treatments and fly to Germany and elsewhere. What if you cannot? What if you have no money to fly anywhere, let alone afford all of the treatments available stateside, including their "A Game"?
Even the rich and famous can fall victim to the 'health system'.
Why have we NOT found a cure for Cancer? It seems to me that conventional methods , those 'accepted' by the medical profession is worse than the disease. With all the money thrown at it, Cancer seems very resistant indeed to irradication. It is about time we took THIS particular 'Terrorist' down and I do not mean waterboarding. I mean dead. dead. DEAD.
Thank you , Farrah Fawcett for having the courage to film this journey in the most unflinching and heartwrenching way possible.
God Bless you all. Farrah. Ryan. Alana and all who took part in Farrah's Story.