'M*A*S*H's Mike Farrell Nursed Wife Back to Life & Was Her Full-Time Caregiver When She Faced Death

Shelley Fabares and Mike Farrell both have a history of failed marriages, but they took another chance at love and have since become a formidable couple. The pair endured many trials, including the rejection of their marriage by Farrell's kids, Fabares' long battle with health issues, and the recovery process. However, their roller-coaster ride only strengthened their marriage.

Hollywood legend Mike Farrell found his happily ever after with a second wife following his first failed marriage. However, his son and daughter were not very accepting of their new stepmom.

When legendary actor Mike Farrell met his future spouse, Shelley Fabares, they were both married to other people. The pair crossed paths in 1970 when Fabares guest-starred on an episode of his TV series, "The Interns."

However, Farrell and Fabares did not begin a romantic relationship until 12 years later when they attended a CBS affiliates convention.

Both of them had been divorced, Farrell from his wife of seventeen years, actress Judy Farrell, and Fabares from record mogul Lou Adler.

Following their interaction at the event, Farrell invited Fabares for coffee and to an exhibit of films and photos he had made in Central America.

"I had just gotten back from a tour of refugee camps [in Honduras, EI Salvador, and Nicaragua], and I was reeling from the terribly inhuman treatment I had seen," he explained. Meanwhile, Fabares said: "I knew nothing about Central America."

The "M*A*S*H" alum asked her to marry him within a year, and she said 'Yes.' Farrell and Fabares tied the knot in December 1984 at the Pacific Palisades home of the bride's aunt, veteran actress Nanette Fabray.

Farrell's Kids Did Not Initially Warm Up to Fabares

While Fabares had no biological children, her new husband was a dad of two kids from his previous marriage, Erin and Michael. Farrell had a great relationship with his brood and made time for them.

In his book, "Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist," the father of two revealed that one time, he transported his son and daughter, including one of their friends, across the country, "up to Canada, back across the Pacific, and then down the West Coast and home again."

Meanwhile, the early stages of his marriage to Fabares were anything but easy. The children did not warm up to their new stepmom because their parents' divorce took its toll on them, said Fabares in an interview with People in April 1995:

"The divorce was very hard on the kids. It took a lot of love, patience, courage, and strength, but now they have two solid homes, which is what we all wanted."

Fortunately, her stepchildren later accepted her, and they spent vacations together. Farrell divulged that he and the children became "certified scuba divers" after only a few weeks of training during one of their trips, while Fabares decided to sit it out in the boat while they went off to Tahiti.

Things progressed with Fabares' relationship with her stepson and stepdaughter. When Erin graduated, she had her dad, biological mother, stepfather, and stepmother present, and she introduced them to her pal as "all four of my parents."

"Shelley was fair, clear, straightforward with the kids, and we had pretty well worked our way through the inevitable period," Farrell said about the first hurdle in their marriage.

Fabares & Farrell's Marital Trials

Apart from not being initially accepted by her stepkids, Fabares experienced a severe injury when she fell through the floor joists in 1994. She suffered broken ribs on the left side of her body and was oblivious to the fact that she needed a liver transplant.

The starlet got treated for her injury, and doctors recommended that she see a physician in the following days. As such, they discovered that her liver counts were "off the charts," she explained.

However, medical professionals could not determine the root cause of the problem, and she lived on medications for the next several years, which were able to stabilize her.

Still, the California native's liver counts remained above normal but seemed to deteriorate. Fabares' condition worsened when she experienced an oesophageal bleed – a sudden and severe bleeding in her esophagus.

She was then rushed to the hospital and recalled, "I was terribly sick." Doctors revealed that her health a taken a turn for the worst because of progressive liver failure and that she needed a transplant.

Renowned hepatologist John Vierling, M.D explained the Emmy Award nominee's liver had failed to a point whereby medication could not restore it and that she could experience more bleeding, which could be life-threatening.

Fabares and her husband were in total shock because they never imagined things could escalate to that point: "I really thought that the transplant was just a 'safety measure' at the time. Something that I might not need at all."

Fabares also had to face the fact that there was a possibility of her not receiving a liver on time and could die before getting one. That said, she was placed on the liver transplant waiting list in April 1999:

"I was very much aware that I was living on borrowed time. The strain was enormous, but there was also a level of acceptance within me. There are no words to express what this experience is like – physically, psychologically, and spiritually."

Farrell Became His Wife's Full-Time Caregiver

After waiting for one year and eight months, doctors finally found a liver for Fabares on October 23, 2000.

Her husband revealed that doctors described the surgery she had to undergo as the "most difficult operation they do – more complicated even than a heart," Farrell said.

Luckily, the medical procedure was a success, and Fabares later spoke about her recovery process, which she described as "difficult," adding:

"All of the energy that I had went into the healing process. My recovery took a long time. I suddenly started to get so depressed, and then I got more depressed because I was depressed."

Fabares' spouse became her full-time caregiver during her recovery period, and two decades later, she is now healthy. The singer said though she would never wish that kind of experience on anyone, there was a silver lining for her.

"I have been so changed by this experience. Even though life has returned to some degree of normalcy, I'm a different person," she said.

Fabares also credited her loving husband Farrell for being her pillar of strength during such a dark period: "I am incredibly blessed by the man I'm married to. I don't know how I could have gotten through this without him."