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On Oct. 9 O'Neal stood by her as she got a chemotherapy treatment and accompanied her as she left the hospital with a chemo pack attached to her side. Sitting at his favorite L.A. coffee shop the next day, O'Neal, 65, was visibly tired and upset as he confirmed that Fawcett had anal cancer. "Isn't that great for an actress?" he told PEOPLE, shaking his head. "She said she is surprised at how well she is doing." Fawcett even drove their son to work the day after treatment. "She's so strong," he says. "I love her. I love her all over again."
In the three decades since Fawcett seduced the nation with her brilliant smile and red swimsuit – years marked by professional highs and lows, as well as her older sister Diane's death from lung cancer in 2001 and her mother Pauline's death at 91 in 2005 – the all-American sex symbol has never been one to take a hit without swinging back. On Oct. 6, soon after getting her cancer diagnosis, Fawcett, a former spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society, issued a defiant statement entitled "Positivity Is a Necessity": "Throughout the journey of my life, I have maintained a strong faith in the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity. I deeply believe in one's own positive will to overcome even the most daunting challenges. I am resolutely strong and I am determined to bite the bullet and fight the fight. . . ."
