Patrick Swayze: "I'm Going Through Hell"

Patrick Swayze, who has been battling pancreatic cancer for a year, sat down with Barbara Walters for an exclusive interview that airs Wednesday night at 10 pm on ABC. Swayze has defied the tabloids that had him at death's door when his diagnosis became public.

Swayze stars in a new show "The Beast," which he filmed while fighting his cancer, which had already spread to his liver before he was even diagnosed.

"You can bet that I'm going through hell," Swayze says to Walters. "And I've only seen the beginning of it."

"There's a lot of fear here," he adds. "There's a lot of stuff going on. Yeah, I'm scared. Yeah, I'm angry. Yeah, I'm [asking] why me. Yeah, I'm all this stuff."

As for how he figured out something was wrong, it was exactly one year ago while celebrating New Year's:

"I tried to have champagne, and it would be like pouring acid, you know, on an open wound."
Soon he found "my indigestion issues got gigantic and constant. And then I started thinking, I'm getting skinny. I dropped about 20 pounds in the blink of an eye. And then when you see it in the mirror, when all of a sudden, you pull your eyes down and the bottom of your eyes go yellow and jaundice sets in -- then you know something's wrong."

He started filming "The Beast" despite the cancer, and in 5 months of filming missed only a day and a half of work, and he never took medicine for his physical pain.

"When you're shooting, you can't do drugs," Swayze tells Walters. "I can't do Hydrocodone or Vicodin or these kinds of things that take the edge off of it, 'cause it takes the edge off of your brain."

Tune in Wednesday at 10 pm for more of the interview. "The Beast" premieres on A&E on January 15.

Here's the trailer:

Comments

[choctawfrazer]

Bless Patrick Swayze and his battle with cancer. He has given me and others many others such pleasure with his films.

[DesertKayaker]

You're an inspiration, Patrick. I wish you all the very best!

[lioness39]

Take care, Patrick. Pancreatic cancer is said to be the worst of them and intensely painful. Hang in there.

[harriettubman]

It should be criminal for health staff to leak medical information. Besides suing, these people need to serve time in jail too; six months would be ideal. From Tammy Wynette to Britney Spears all having medical information sold to the tabs. You know the leakers have no ethics.

[dm92]

I wish him the best. I think 1 year is already a long survival for pancreatic cancer.

[harriettubman]

It is. This type of ca is deadly.

[wanked]

Yes. It takes you down hard and fast....now the liver. Yikes. Work is good-keeps the negative energy away.

[PallinAround]

God bless him. I wonder if - even now - he has stopped smoking... I would like to see him do some PSAs to urge people to quit smoking. That terrible addiction can only have contributed to his decline in health.

[ChicagoSuz]

Hang in there, Patrick... you're already a walking miracle!!

[SabrinaFair]

God bless him.

[bayside]

Patrick is a good man and has enriched many lives...A good role model..

[MakeAWish]

Try meditation. It can quiet and calm the body and mind.

Keep the spirit and keep fighting!

[barriosbabe]

All the best, Patrick.

I have chronic pain.

I found that meditation made it worse. Even with a lot of practice with nonjudgmental observation it still remained very cognitive for me - aware of what was running through my head.

What _did_ help was working with a really top notch non-scripted hypnotist. A good hypnotists will teach you how to _bypass_ the conscious mind. Be sure it is somebody who _never_ uses scripts and never reads memorized or written stuff (those are the crummy ones).

[Tatiana]

He shouldn't of went back to work.
Heal thyself with plenty of rest, relaxation and take your pain meds.

[Changeling]

Who are you to tell someone what would best help them in time of their illness? For someone like him I'd wager being active and doing what he loves is far better medicine than siting at home in bed in a fog.

[Tatiana]

Hey There. Any oncologist would tell a person the same thing, relaxation boosts the immune system.

[harriettubman]

That's how YOU would deal with it. Everybody doesn't deal with issues the same way. Work helps some people focus.

[treebu]

There is a drug for cancer. In Canada. It's called DCA look it up.

[leatherbunny]

Patrick Swayze caught my attention is a Movie called City of Joy. and then again in Three Wishes. Niether films had very good reviews, but I really was moved by Swayze's performance. I later watched his box office hits Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and could see so much passion in his roles knowing these films will be movie classics. His marriage to Lisa Niemi is a true love story, perhaps some day we will see on the big screen. May God speed Mr. Swayze into recovery and show the world he can beat this thing.

[choctawfrazer]

I especially liked him in City of Joy. Fine movie reflecting his acting skills.

[rnorthro14]

Prayers to Patrick Swayze.

[greginwva]

The honesty of this man describing the torment and pain is remarkable.Did he take this series to keep his medical bills from wiping out his families finances?Ive always thought him to be a good man.

[Jon39]

Good to see Swayze back! Looks good. I will be tuning in on the 15th. He's an awesome actor, and I wish him the best.