Farrah Fawcett is receiving "alternative treatments" for cancer in Germany – and videotaping the experience for a possible documentary, a close friend of the actress's tells PEOPLE.

Craig Nevius, who produced Fawcett's reality show Chasing Farrah and who is now overseeing the video project overseas, says that although Fawcett's cancer has returned, her health has not declined.

"She was declared 100 percent cancer free and then it came back," he says. "She was discouraged by the treatments she got here. The fact that it recurred after all that she went through was heartbreaking."

He adds: "She has been in Germany. That's true. She's getting alternative treatments not allowed in the U.S."

Fawcett was originally diagnosed with anal cancer in September 2006. After undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments, she was declared cancer free by her doctors on Feb. 2, her 60th birthday.

However, in May, doctors discovered that the cancer had returned. A malignant polyp, smaller than a pea, was found during a routine three-month checkup.

The German magazine Bunte first reported that the actress is undergoing chemotherapy in the University Clinic in Frankfurt, combining the treatments with alternative healing methods in Bad Wiessee, in southern Germany.

Contacted by PEOPLE, Ricarda Wessinghagen, a spokeswoman for the hospital, said: "I can confirm that Farrah Fawcett was here and was treated here, but I have no more information."

Nevius declined to reveal the nature of the treatment in Germany, but did say, "She's been documenting everything in a video diary" for "what could be a very important documentary."

Fawcett, who starred as Jill Munroe in the '70s TV sensation Charlie's Angels, has served as a celebrity spokesperson for the American Cancer Society: Her older sister, Diane, died of lung cancer in 1998.