Fawcett visited London with her family – dad James, mom Pauline and sister Diane – in 1978. Photo by: Bettmann / CORBIS
Farrah's Fight Against Cancer| Farrah Fawcett
While Fawcett readies for battle, she does not lack for reinforcements. The other former Angels, Jackson and Smith – both of whom have beaten cancer – have rallied beside her. Says O'Neal: "Kate was with her at the house, and Jaclyn is sending food. Farrah is so touched." According to Extra, Katie Couric (who has crusaded against colon cancer since the disease took her husband's life in 1998) has been guiding Fawcett to the field's top physicians and its most up-to-date treatments. (Says Couric's rep: "Katie had gone through similar experiences with family members and wanted to be as helpful as possible.")

After hearing her friend's news, Kate Jackson took Fawcett out for a walk "disguised in hats and bandanas," says Jackson. "Farrah is up and around. If anybody has an image in their head of her wasting away on a bed, they are seriously wrong." Fawcett's former neighbor Tori Spelling says, "I know with her perseverance and beautiful outlook on life, she will overcome this."

Her friends back in her native Texas have weighed in too. Sylvia Dorsey, a Houston-based interior designer who is a close pal from Fawcett's days at the University of Texas at Austin, suggested Fawcett get treated at Houston's renowned M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. But Fawcett preferred to stay in L.A., where in addition to her chemotherapy she will undergo five weeks of radiation treatment for the disease before determining the next step. "She has a lot of confidence in her doctors," says Dorsey. Plus, she adds, in L.A., "Farrah's got a wonderful support system – she's surrounded by all her men."