14 DAY TRIAL // Since he’s been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer, “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost” star Patrick Swayze has kept a very low profile. As his first televised interview in almost a year will reveal, all this time, many things have been said and written about his life-threatening disease, but none got even close to how he’s feeling right now.
Speaking with interview veteran Barbara Walters in a 1-hour special that will air today on ABC, Patrick reveals that the feelings of fear and anger for being the one to get the disease still persist, despite his determination to fight this through. “You can bet that I’m going through hell. And I’ve only seen the beginning of it. There's a lot of fear here. There's a lot of stuff going on.” the 56-year-old actor says in the first open discussion about his cancer.
During the same interview, the actor also reveals that he first saw the signs of something more severe at the beginning of 2008, right on New Year’s Eve, when he tried to have a glass of champagne and it felt like “pouring acid on an open wound.” Later on, he realized that he had lost too much weight so as not to be concerned, so he went to the doctor. When they discovered that the cancer in his pancreas had spread to his liver, and that surgery was no longer an option at that point, word of the entire drama also got out in the press.
With all that, Swayze continued to go to work, choosing not to isolate himself from the rest of the world. He took up a part as an undercover FBI agent in a new television show and shared his time between working hours on the set and visits at the doctor for chemotherapy. “I just love to work hard. I did find myself, at the end of the day, riding home sort of catching myself with a smile on my face. I’m proud of what I’m doing. There’s more I want to do. Lots more. So I’d better get on with it.” the beloved actor tells Barbara.
A preview of the interview can be seen below.