NEW YORK (AP) ó Farrah Fawcett, who has struggled with cancer since 2006, has checked into a Los Angeles hospital but is “not on death’s door,” a producer who has worked with the actress told The Associated Press on Monday.
Craig Nevius confirmed early Monday that the 62-year-old “Charlie’s Angels” star, who was reportedly diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006, was hospitalized because of a blood clot that was likely a side effect of treatment she recently had in Germany.
“She’s doing fantastic,” Nevius said in a phone interview. “Her fight goes on. … She’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”
The hospitalization was first reported by RadarOnline.com. Fawcett’s doctor, Lawrence Piro, said that Fawcett had abdominal bleeding and a hematoma after undergoing aggressive alternative cancer treatments in Germany.
After the procedure, Piro said she flew back to Los Angeles because she was anxious to come home. “It turned out that the procedure caused a small amount of bleeding in one of the muscles of her abdomen, making a hematoma, which was quite painful.”
Piro, who says he regularly consults with her doctors in Germany, said in a statement made available to the AP on Monday that Fawcett was using a wheelchair because it was painful for her to walk. “That pain, which was coming from the hematoma, had nothing directly to do with the cancer.”
Added Piro: “She 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.”
Nevius is the producer of Fawcett’s upcoming documentary chronicling her battle against cancer, “A Wing and A Prayer.” The actress was diagnosed with the disease in October 2006; after undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, Fawcett got a clean bill of health in early 2007.
But several months later, Fawcett’s cancer returned and she eventually pursued alternative therapy abroad.
Nevius said Fawcett is expected to leave the hospital in a few days. He said her support system includes former partner Ryan O’Neal, her father and “Charlie’s Angels” co-stars Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith.
“Let me tell you what she’s not,” Nevius said. “As previously reported by everybody, she’s not unconscious. She is not on death’s door. The family has not gathered to say goodbye.”
Meanwhile, Redmond O’Neal, Fawcett’s son with Ryan O’Neal, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of bringing narcotics into a jail facility and was being held on $25,000 bail.
A deputy at a jail in Castaic, north of Los Angeles, was doing a security sweep of the jail’s parking lot when he stopped the 24-year-old, who admitted he was carrying drugs and was apparently at the jail giving a ride to a friend, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
A phone message left for O’Neal’s attorney wasn’t immediately returned.
O’Neal was arrested along with his father last year at the actor’s Malibu home on suspicion of having methamphetamine while on probation for a previous drug conviction. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.