The Impact of Farrah's Story: More Fear Than Hope for Cancer Patients?

While many who've dealt with cancer personally or through a family member (and many who understandably fear it) watched Farrah Fawcett's May 15 documentary on her cancer fight, it might have sent alarmist signals to some segments of the populace. As I found out through the oncologists who treated my mother for breast cancer last fall, staying positive and never instigating fear is the name of the game in not only breaking the news, but also in the process of recovery and prevention. It's hard to imagine what oncologists in America were thinking watching Fawcett's documentary and seeing the message sent that once you get treatment here in America, the chances are the chemo you may have could tear your body apart.

Not that any of this should put a weight on Farrah Fawcett herself who obviously intended her docu to be an inspiring tale rather than not.

But sometimes the realities of what you see in a documentary can give off a different message from the intended one. Certainly Fawcett's personal message of fighting to stay alive when inflicted with an insidious disease or just fighting for anything important came through loud and clear by the end. Yet it was Ryan O' Neal's fatalistic comments outside the realms of Fawcett's optimism that made the documentary perhaps marred in surprising ways. Coupling that with the reality of Europe apparently having better cancer treatment than America has, the view of having cancer may have been altered to a more negative view.

Obviously, it's a challenge to keep positive when you're in the condition Fawcett is in at the time of this writing. Even I admit that I had trepidation in watching the show, despite my own mother's breast cancer being caught early and not being anywhere near the situation Fawcett found herself in. We also should have been reminded in the documentary that Fawcett's cancer is a very rare form of the disease. And never mind that the unfounded rumor still permeates that her initial anal cancer was possibly caused by a past STD. Nobody knows that for sure, outside knowing this truth in other cases factoring into a picture that could potentially alleviate fear of this kind of cancer happening often.

Fawcett wanted to nevertheless remind us that cancer is cancer. You never know what it's going to do, which can easily incite panic with even minor cancer cases. What people should always be reminded of, however, is that rates of longstanding survival are increasing in some cancers when they're caught early. Particularly in breast cancer, survivor rates are at an all-time high. While my mom had the rare lobular type (see first source link to an article I wrote about it last fall) that usually has much more favorable outcomes due to its slow growth in spreading, oncologists in America are doing an outstanding job of treating people and obtaining advancements that enable better treatment.

Then there's that controversy over chemotherapy. In the Fawcett documentary and in the opinion of some oncologists, we see a growing insinuation that it can do more harm than good.
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I'll be honest here and say that I was worried when told my mom would initially have to go on chemotherapy. Then her oncologist told her that she wouldn't have to have it--hence bringing on some relief, temporarily. More recently, a report (see second source link below) said that those with early stage breast cancer benefit more having chemotherapy in addition to radiation and other adjuvant treatments. That, of course, made me concerned that perhaps the wrong decision was made. Although after seeing what the recommended chemotherapy did to harm Farrah Fawcett's liver in treatment of her liver cancer, my own opinion ultimately became a bit conflicted.

No doubt there was intense wondering why those laser treatments Fawcett received in Germany aren't available in the United States. Nothing really had to be said other than the images of Fawcett getting favorable outcomes with the German laser treatments and bad results from her chemo to instigate negative feelings about cancer treatment in America. It's the image of the oncologist that I worry about based on my personal observations that they're as good as you're going to find in not only treatment but also superior support and education.

So if you watched the Farrah Fawcett documentary and felt worried and depressed that you could end up like her if you get cancer or if you've already been diagnosed, know the reality of hope is much stronger than the note the show was left on. While we still have to admit that America's cancer institutes could be braver in trying experimental treatments Europe is already leading in, having chemotherapy doesn't necessarily cause mass damage in everybody. It can obviously cause some severe (if, rarely, fatal) symptoms in certain people. Overall, though, it seems to help more people than hurt them.

Nevertheless, another message should be gleaned from the Fawcett documentary: Chemotherapy isn't necessarily always pushed on all people depending on the individual situation. On that front, oncologists might differ in opinion when each situation in every cancer case is going to be unique. With that growing sentiment in oncology, there shouldn't be a fear that all cancer patients will go on chemotherapy due to other options being available. Because traditional chemo is highly toxic to the body, the balance of considering it unnecessary and dangerous when radiation or other adjuvant cancer treatments can be utilized effectively instead should remove another mound of fear.

In all this regard, Farrah Fawcett's otherwise excellent and touching documentary shouldn't give a definitive word on the battles of cancer out there. If you've dealt with cancer in your life, you'll know that the most important point in recovery after treatment is the strong support from your oncologists and positivity from family and friends. Having a high-profile documentary showing how that works in millions of other cancer cases around America would be a needed answer to the sobering ending to Fawcett's production...

Sources:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1196962/lobular_breast_cancer_how_this_rare.html?cat=70

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/14/healthmag.chemo.breast.cancer/