Annette Funicello's "Final Days"

[Tawanda]

Did anyone catch the front cover of the GLOBE? I don't read these tabloids (well, not normally), but I can't miss the headlines at the checkout stand. There it was...the blurry, yet horrible, picture the mystery woman, Annette Funicello.

Clearly this was not a photo Annette Funicello wanted taken. It was very blurry and taken from a weird angle. I was disappointed when Annette stopped being an M.S. advocate as her disease worsened. In my opinion, the public needs to know how HORRID this disease is and she blew the opportunity due to a movie star ego. I don't think Michael J. Fox would ever shy away from publicizing and working for Parkinson's Disease.

Anyway, the mag. cover freaked me out and I started dropping stuff as I was leaving Stop and Shop. I figured Annette was pretty bad these last few years, but I hated the way she hid it. I don't want to sound mean, but she didn't do us MSers any favors.

[jazzgirl]

Those tabloids have been advertising her "final days" off and on for years now. A-hats...

She's very, very sick, though. I don't take any offense at her not being the face of MS like MJF is for Parkinson's disease. I don't live her life and have no idea how hard it is for her. Very severe disease seems to be a nightmare.

[MrsBones]

It's always been my choice to not hide MS, but it is everyone's individual right to handle their disclosure or non-disclosure in their own way.

I don't think that because she is famous, she has any kind of obligation to be a spokesperson for MS awareness. Not everyone wants to take the same route as Michael J. Fox or Teri Garr. And let's face it, not everyone is cut out for it,either.

The only favor she owes anyone is to be true to herself and live whatever way she wants. If she prefers to keep her progress quiet, then good for her. She should be able to live as quietly or as loudly as she wants without tabloid photographers taking photos of her to go with ridiculous "last days" stories.

[Ceci]

Originally Posted by Tawanda

I figured Annette was pretty bad these last few years, but I hated the way she hid it. I don't want to sound mean, but she didn't do us MSers any favors.

It wasn't her job to do us any favors. Why should expectations be placed on her because she was famous. She's entitled to her privacy just like we are.

Even if she had been more public, the harshest critics would have been fellow MSers. There would have been those that complained about the way she presented her MS, etc. Why would anyone want to set him/herself up for that?

I applaud her for doing what was right for her ... not for all of us.

[StillOkay]

Many of us here struggle with whether or not to tell people that we have MS, we choose what details to tell people, we choose to say we're feeling good when we know that the truth won't be received well...

We all have reasons for our decisions, and I don't believe it should be any different for someone just because they are famous.

[justacowgirl]

Originally Posted by StillOkay

Many of us here struggle with whether or not to tell people that we have MS, we choose what details to tell people, we choose to say we're feeling good when we know that the truth won't be received well...

We all have reasons for our decisions, and I don't believe it should be any different for someone just because they are famous.

ABSOLUTELY rught.

Give her some peace. I hate the way people invade the privacy of people that are famous.

We all face this disease our own way.

Let's just pray for her instead.

Justacowgirl

[Jenny3838]

Boy, do I agree with you! She does not owe us a thing. All she should focus on is herself and her family. Hasn't she suffered enough.

Originally Posted by justacowgirl

ABSOLUTELY rught.

Give her some peace. I hate the way people invade the privacy of people that are famous.

We all face this disease our own way.

Let's just pray for her instead.

Justacowgirl

[JadeVictoria]

I saw this when I was checking out of the grocery store today also. It has bothered me for a different reason. I think Annette deserves her privacy just like everyone else. She should be allowed to deal with her disease in the way that works best for her and her family. What a tragic thing for her family to have this headline and picture plastered all over the place. Who knows if that was even Annette.

Jade

[tejokid]

Michael J. Fox was born in 1961, making him about 49.
Annette Funicello is about 68.
Elvis would be a doddering old man by now.

We don't get to subtract birthdays as we grow older, and age itself takes a toll on the way we look. Many of us don't announce our condition to coworkers, bosses and even family for various reasons, and Annette didn't go public with her diagnosis until she had to combat tabloid rumors that she was was staggering like a drunk. So tabloids start the rumors--and then wail about "final days." Who's really guilty here--Annette the human being--or tabloid press?

She went public with her diagnosis in the early 1990s. She released her book--A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes--in 1994, and the next year she appeared in a movie based on that book--and she was in a wheelchair then. In 1993, she opened the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders. That's not hiding; that's not vanity.

She's only guilty of fighting a wicked illness. Just like we are.

[cocogirl]

I hope that I am allowed to live my life and death with MS as I see fit and so it gives me the quality that I decide. If I don't live up to others expectations I am sorry but it is my life and I want to spend it with my family and friends and doing what I can for my Lord. I hope that everyone will understand those that in the final stages of this MonSter disease may not want to live it under the microscope this way. She lived her life under the microscope and may feel that now is the time for privacy. I pray for peace and comfort for Annette and for everyone else.

[Ruby_NikitaK9]

If anyone is interested and can find it she made an awesome movie I think around 1996 called "A dream Is a wish your heart makes" The Annette Funicello story. In this movie she is portrayed by an actress who does an excellent job of showing the diagnosis process of ms and how it can be somewhat tricky to diagnose an is often misdiagnosed or passed off as something else. She narrates the entire thing herself. Shelly Fabres makes an actual appearance

It shows her strengths and how she does things in life despite her diagnosis.

the end of the movie shows her in real life at that time finishing telling her story to a bunch of small children...

I feel with that movie she helps people with MS understand the beginning of the disease process. I think in the beginning when we are all experiencing those weird symptoms we are all more alike and can relate to one another...

anyways it's a worth see if you can find it... It's been on tv a few times and I watched it when they dxed me as 'probable ms' and it truly helped me feel I could relate to someone with the oh yeah I remember something similar to that.

Take Care

RubyNikitaK9

[kellygrn]

I have had MS for 50 years. When Annette & I were growing up there was NOTHING that could be done. My doc told my folks to just let me live as best I could & tell me nothing. If they had not done things that way, I would not have gotten married, had 3 children & be grandma to 7.

When your speech goes, others treat you differently. I am at that point now. In her movie, her voice was hard to understand then. For me being in a wheelchair is nothing but not being able to be understood, well that is my nightmare.

I hope Annette lives a long happy life.

KK

[Tawanda]

Originally Posted by jazzgirl

Those tabloids have been advertising her "final days" off and on for years now. A-hats...

She's very, very sick, though. I don't take any offense at her not being the face of MS like MJF is for Parkinson's disease. I don't live her life and have no idea how hard it is for her. Very severe disease seems to be a nightmare.

Actually, Jazz, this was the first mention of Ms. Funicello, dying or otherwise; tabloid or legitimate press, that I've seen in YEARS! That's why I found that headline so jarring!

[JoanFrances]

I never put any faith in those papers

As I recall Annette was never one of those famous people who would blow her own horn . She was a private person and why should she be forced to be something she is not.

I hid away when my sx's are kicking my butt, becuase frankly I don't like the reactions I get from people. I don't want pity from people who don't know I alive half the time.

The one thing Annette may have that we all don't, is the income to get the very best treatments and help available, and I say good for her. God bless her.

[tommylee]

A lot of us like to hide or stay under the radar when we feel like poop?

Maybe she is like me?
I don't want to be the "Face of MS" or show everybody how pathetic my life may be.
It's not that I don't care about others. It is because it depresses me too much to dwell on the loss.

I just want to enjoy life as much as possible in spite of MS.
If I spend my time showing everybody all I have lost.....I just want it to end.

I understand your thought or wishes, but cut the old girl some slack.
She was a very pretty girl for many years. I imagine the loss of beauty may be a difficult pill to swallow?
(Think about having to look at awful pictures of yourself when you are just trying to buy a few things you need?)

Personally, I can understand the desire to live the life of a hermit. Don't you ever feel like being hermit? (I do)