Freddy Fenders last days

[RandyW]

Freddy Fender seeks new cancer treatment

But singer wants no chemotherapy

By Cassandra Hinojosa Caller-Times

September 30, 2006

Freddy Fender's cancer has worsened, doctors in San Antonio told him earlier this month.

The Grammy award-winning musician learned that his PET scan revealed his cancer has spread from his left lung to his body.

"Freddy refused the chemo afterward," said Vangie Huerta, his wife and manager. "Freddy said, 'I'm not going to do that anymore.' He's so miserable with the chemo."

In June, doctors told Fender, 69, he had incurable cancer after doctors found multiple tumors on his lungs.

Fender began his career in the late 1950s and topped the Billboard charts throughout the decades with "Before The Next Teardrop Falls," "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" and "You'll Lose A Good Thing."

On Wednesday, Fender arrived at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Southwestern Regional Medical Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Fender, who until recently had been resting at his Corpus Christi home, hasn't performed since New Year's Eve and all his bookings have been canceled, Huerta said.

"The doctors over here are giving us some kind of hope and doing all kinds of tests and they are going to do radiation on his brain because they found two spots on his brain," said Huerta, who is with Fender in Oklahoma. "We are hanging on to our beliefs that there is some cure for Freddy over here."

According to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Web site, patients are offered the most sophisticated forms of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy in combination with complementary therapies that include nutrition, spiritual support, mind-body medicine and naturopathic medicine.

Vangie says they waited three months for an appointment.

"I feel like we're in the right place," she said." Of course we're still praying and hoping for a miracle."

[KatieB]