Originally Posted by wowitsdark

I think many here are missing bascapline's point entirely, even though you think you understand it.

Those in her shoes who have lived through colon cancer are naturally going to have opinions and feelings and thoughts about this issue. It is surely extremely emotional for them. I've seen people on this very board be critical of people who think it's stupid *not* to exercise the freedom to jabber away on a cell phone while flying around town driving a vehicle. We ALL have situations/conditions about which our very personal, first hand knowledge has led us to conclusions.

The point is that Farrah had cancer, and she wanted the world to see how terrible cancer is and chose to make her painful moments very public moments. I have absolutely no problem with that - whether she wanted privacy or publicity was her choice to make. But I think that once someone opts for the 'publicity' decision in order to make a statement or paint a picture or to inform the public, it's certainly fair game for others who have walked that same walk - with a different outcome, set of decision-making tools, or whatever, to counter the 'statement' the movie star is making with their own equally-valid experiences.

Farrah CHOSE not to go with the ostomy, and that was absolutely her decision to make. The reality is that an ostomy MIGHT have saved her life. Her reasons for NOT wanting one were her to carry and she had a personal obligation to *herself* to own those reasons and act on them in whatever she felt was best for her. I think that was absolutely appropriate.

And I think it is equally appropriate for others who found themselves in the EXACT same situation but chose a different path to want to make sure, in light of the publicity that she gave HER choice, that the world understands that the OTHER path - TO have an ostomy - is ALSO a valid choice and that the death of Farrah, which we essentially witnessed on television, MIGHT have been prevented had she been able to get past the "yuck factor" of the ostomy.

You're talking about a demographic of people who have LIVED this issue and are far more educated about it than the rest of us. If it bothered them that she apparently gave the impression that an ostomy bag was so bad that it wasn't worth getting even if it upped your chances of survival, and they had a different experience, I can absolutely see why they would discuss her situation amongst themselves, as they did on that message board.

I don't think anyone ever said it wasn't her right or her choice. I just saw people saying they did not believe she made the BEST choice and that perhaps she was giving an inaccurate depiction of how bad an ostomy is. It's personal to them, so I cannot find it in my heart to bash them for it.