Farrah Fawcett Cancer Update: Farrah Hospitalized & Son Redmond Arrested!

Posted on April 6, 2009

Farrah Fawcett’s doctor and a friend say Farrah does have hope in her three-year battle against rectal cancer, and that her current hospitalization is due to a painful hematoma not directly related to her cancer. But doctor’s say her cancer has spread to her liver. Read more on her condition and son’s legal troubles.

Fawcett has been photographed in a wheelchair but her doctor, Lawrence Piro, says she is able to walk and “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.”

Farrah Fawcett is being treated for anal cancer and it has reportedly spread to her liver, reveals a producer who worked with the actress on Monday, detailing a more serious situation than has previously been described.

In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Fawcett’s producer and her doctor said that Fawcett is in a Los Angeles hospital, recovering from complications from a medical procedure in Germany, and is “not on death’s door,” as the producer put it.

“She had a minor procedure. That procedure led to a small amount of bleeding into a muscle in her abdominal wall,” which created a sac of blood that caused pressure and pain, said her Los Angeles cancer specialist, Dr. Lawrence Piro. It was “a simple procedure” and a standard one, although Fawcett also has pursued experimental treatments in Germany, he added.

“She’s on the mend and will be going home very shortly,” said her producer, Craig Nevius. “She’s doing fantastic. Her fight goes on. … She’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”

However, confirmation that the cancer had spread to her liver is bad news. Fawcett, 62, the “Charlie’s Angels” star was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006, and originally was treated at UCLA with chemotherapy and radiation.

Fawcett was said to be in remission in Feb 2, 2007, but three months later, scans showed “not only had it recurred, it metastasized to her liver,” Nevius said.

The latest treatment in Germany tried to address the cancer’s spread to that organ, he said.

Nevius would not say where in Germany she was being treated, just that it was a clinic affiliated with some hospitals. He also would not give details on her treatments there, but said media reports that she was getting stem cell treatments were false.

“It’s never had anything to do with stem cells,” or alternative treatments like shark cartilage, coffee enemas or unproven “detoxification” diets, Nevius said.

Farrah’s family has had another troubled spot on Sunday with the arrest of her son, Redmond O’Neal, who sadly has a history of drug addiction.

Police stopped O’Neal in the parking lot of a jail north of Los Angeles where he was dropping off a friend, and he admitted he was carrying drugs.

Redmond was arrested for bringing narcotics into a jail facility and was being held on $25,000 bail, the AP reports.

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