Monica Fairall dies of cancer
Last updated: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 PrintThe death at the weekend of radio journalist Monica Fairall is a blow to progressive health thinking in South Africa. Fairall’s radio show Pathways to Health has been a powerful and groundbreaking voice for the recognition of integrative healing.
Fairall died at the age of 60 after a battle with myeloma, a form of blood cancer.
Myeloma is a rare and difficult cancer, and Fairall’s diagnosis, last September, was the beginning of an ugly fight. After some debate over treatment with both her doctor and the medical aids, she was put onto a very aggressive form of treatment using thalidomide and warfarin. “She was having dreadful side effects that compromised her immune system,” writes friend and collaborator Deirdre Allen, of the Health Products Association (HPA). “However, she remained positive and believed that she would beat the disease.
“She was to remain on this protocol for another two months and then she was expecting to have a bone marrow transplant – using her own bone marrow.
“She was admitted to hospital on Friday. We received text messages from her and she seemed to be recovering and was expected to be discharged.”
Sad irony in her death
Then, on Sunday, Fairall died – not of the cancer per se, but of a massive pulmonary embolism, a complication linked to pneumonia, which was a consequence of the stress her immune system was under. There is a sad irony to this: she had held the hand of poet Douglas Livingstone through his losing battle with cancer in the 90s, after which she wrote a book about it, Challenge Cancer the Holistic Way.
Fairall has been in the public eye, more or less since 1971, when she became Miss South Africa. Over the years she has been a DJ on radio, a musician and actress, and a yoga instructor; but she was perhaps best known recently as a health journalist, with a particular interest in holistic healing and natural medicine.
She leaves her husband of 18 months, Professor Robert Morrell of the University of KwaZulu Natal, and his two daughters, as well as a community that is saddened by the stilling of an important voice.
Read more: Living proof: a medical mutiny
(Heather Parker, Health24, June 2009)
advertisement
Your Comments
monica fairall
thought you may want to read this
The disease is worse than the treatment
Articles like these are irresponsible- the disease killed this pt not the treatment!!!! Alt health is good for the common cold (but orthodox medicine will sort that soon). When the chips are down and patients are gravely ill it' s of to the hospital- where admittedly some die- but feeling better after treating your cold with alt health products is not a proof of efficacy. You can' t cure an inflamed/burst appendix with herbs or drops.....
Myeloma - Treatment vs Disease
This is a dreadful disease that seriously compromises the immune system and the treatment is often harsher than the disease. I helped my wife through her battle for 2 years of chemo, radiation, tandem stem cell transport,thalidomide before she succumbed in 2003 while waiting for a donor transplant ( her sister was a match). I have followed new treatments and trials - but have never heard of Warfarin being used in combination with thalidomide.
warfarin and thalidomide
My partner lived with multiple myeloma for 13 years and passed away in April. He was on thalidomide for about 7 of those years. He took warfarin to prevent blood clots - one of the side effects of the thalidomide. This disease affects people so differently. His last oncologist said he had a slow-progressing version of the disease - probably why he lasted so much longer than most.
THE DECEASED MONICA FAIRALL
I met Monica in the 1960s when she was in a relationship with the dashing Rodney Kenyon. Shortly thereafter, I was privileged to escort Monica to an event that Rodney could not attend due to a business trip to Johannesburg. Apart from the fact that Monica was a recent Miss South Africa and a stunning good-looker, she was great fun, down-to-earth and a terrific person to boot. Condolences to the Fairalls, Prof Morrell & family.
THE DECEASED MONICA FAIRALL 2
My 66 years are catching up with me - I note that Monica was Miss SA in 1971 not the 60' s, for what it' s worth.
The comment facility of this article has been closed.