Wednesday, 24 Jul 2002
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Pamela Anderson, the small-town Canadian girl who became one of the world's most famous women, said on Tuesday night she would take time away from her career to undergo a sometimes debilitating treatment for hepatitis C that could save her life.
Anderson, the former Baywatch star, said she plans to take injections of powerful antiviral drugs to treat her hepatitis C, a sometimes fatal liver disease she blames on a tattoo needle shared with ex-husband Tommy Lee.
"There's lots of side effects. ... It's going to be a year of basically having the flu. Your hair falls out. It's a little kind of chemotherapy," the Canadian-born actress said in an interview with CNN's Larry King Live on Tuesday.
"I want to do it for my kids, because I don't want to die, basically." she said.
In April, Anderson, 35, made headlines when she announced that she and recording star Kid Rock, her boyfriend of a year, were engaged to be married.
But in the interview with King, she appeared to hedge: "I could say right now we're in the trenches. We're just working on things. ... We love each other very much but it's a difficult life, a difficult life. And I want what's best for my kids. And he has a son."
Anderson said a biopsy showed that her liver was still relatively healthy and she planned to take interferon in combination with other drugs starting in December, enough time to make arrangements for her two sons.
Antiviral drugs- such as interferon- usually result in flu-like symptoms and can also cause hair loss, low blood count, moodiness and depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Interferon combined with ribavirin, another antiviral drug, works on about 30 to 40 percent of US patients with the chronic disease, according to the CDC.
Most people with hepatitis C eventually develop chronic liver disease, with a far smaller number at risk of liver cancer or cirrhosis, potentially fatal conditions.
Lee, former Motley Crue drummer, has denied Anderson's charge that he also suffers from hepatitis C or that the pair shared a tattoo needle.
The couple divorced in 1998 and have been in a bitter custody battle over their sons, Brandon, 6, and Dylan, 4.
Anderson said Lee was "in denial" about his own disease, estranged from his children who fear him, and unable to take care of them without a court-appointed monitor.
"They've never had a relationship with their father since they were born. They've always been afraid of their father, and their father has had no contact, really, with them," Anderson said.
Anderson's failed marriage to Lee, which came after a whirlwind romance and became linked in the public mind with an infamous sex videotape, had left her scared, she said.
"I need to resolve a lot of issues ... I think, before I can really move on and have another serious commitment," said Anderson.
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