An Icon Remembered
- The late actress and icon Farrah Fawcett, who lost her fight to anal cancer in 2009, would have turned 74 on Feb. 2.
- Alana Stewart, Fawcett’s best friend, shares a special tribute to her “beautiful friend” on Instagram with an 80s personal photo of the “Charlie’s Angel” posing with a birthday cake.
- Let’s talk about anal cancer and not be ashamed by it. Also, what can cause it?
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A Loving Mother
Fawcett first rose to stardom in 1976 after joining the first season of the hit show Charlie’s Angels. Decades later, the style icon’s hairstyle “The Farrah” (long, feathered, 70s-style locks) is still copied today. The Golden Globe-nominated actress only had one child, Redmond O’Neal, with actor and longtime love Ryan O’Neal, 79. Mela Murphywho was reportedly at her friend’s side when she passedtold People at the time that her last words were about her son. "She was saying his name, 'Redmond,’ that was the last thing she said.”
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Don’t Be Afraid To Talk About Anal Cancer
If Farrah Fawcett, who was a global sex symbol in the public eye, could talk about her anal cancer, so can you. Fawcett was able to help lessen the embarrassment that comes along with the name and area of the disease. We need to continue her work by being open about it to help continue to reduce the stigma.
Justine Almada, Executive Director and Co-founder of the Anal Cancer Foundation, started dedicating her life to anal cancer after losing her mother to the disease. She has been fighting to help make the necessary advancements. “Four issues became the cornerstone of our organization– prevention, screening, treatment, and patient empowerment. And in the years since mom died, we’ve made a tremendous impact.” She explained that anal cancer patients who are newly diagnosed are able to get access to clinical trial navigation, a peer-to-peer matching program, which is essential.
“Many people are afraid to tell their work colleagues, their family members, even their children what kind of cancer they have simply because it’s a part of the body that people don’t like to talk about– the anal canal,” she said. “We all have the anal canal, we all use it every day so it’s time that we move on from the stigma.”
HPV and Anal Cancer
What is HPV (human papillomavirus) and can it cause cancer? Dr. Jessica Geiger, Medical Oncologist from the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet in a previous interview that “HPV is a virus that’s actually very well spread throughout Western society. It is a sexually transmitted virus,” she said. “Fortunately, the majority of us, over 90%, clear the virus without ever knowing that we were exposed. However, in 6% or 7% of the population, the virus remains dormant in our body and can ultimately cause changes that form cancer.” Dr. Geiger said, suggesting that children get vaccinated for HPV “before they are sexually active. Before their teenage years.”
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