In January, superstar (OK my opinion) actor Patrick Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and he had five weeks to live.
The story initially broke in the National Enquirer and so it was a case of believe what you will but sadly the pancreatic cancer part was true. The five weeks part we were told by his doctor and publicist was a fabrication.
There appears to be a massive smokescreen going on now to bluff the media that Swayze is not as ill as he really is. I believe the National Enquirer story was probably closer to the truth than we all dare to believe. Sadly the truth is that only 25% of pancreatic cancer sufferers survive the first year. If you catch it late then it drops to 4%.
Patrick has undergone major abdominal surgery and three rounds of chemotherapy since being diagnosed in January. His wife of 33 years Lisa Niemi, a licensed pilot, has been flying her husband from their homes in Los Angeles and New Mexico, to Standford University Medical Center Northern California, where he is being treated. He has also been boarding private flights for the journeys to the renown medical facility. Swayze has so far had three out of the four-week cycles of chemotherapy combined with an experimental drug called Vatalanib. The hope is that the drug will cut off the blood supply to the tumor which in turn will shrink it. Experimental drugs are generally only used when all else has failed or there is not much hope of traditional
methods working. Vatalanib is made by Novartis of Switzerland and has been compared in its cancer-fighting attributes to the newly approved Avastin made by South San Francisco's Genentech.Patrick Swayze's mother has now spoken of her feelings in public in the last week. Patsy Swayze 81, said;
"He just does not deserve it." And goes on to say her son is determined to beat the disease. "He's got such a big heart and been such a good and generous person. It breaks my heart to know he's suffering. But he's hanging in there and getting the best treatment".
Patrick Swayze is being described as "a warrior" in his fight against pancreatic cancer by his brother Don. In People magazine, he says doesn't see "a flicker" of fear in his brother's eyes. Hi sister-in-law Maria Haapaniemi adds to that;
"I've never seen him scared of anything!" "He deals with everything the same way: He's determined, enthusiastic, full of energy and hope." She adds, "We appreciate the love that's coming back to Patrick from all his fans." So says an item posted on US Weekly website.
The star of Ghost recently pulled out of his latest movie 'Fired Up', where he was to play a gay cheer leading coach. His representative has claimed he pulled out due to "artistic reasons" and also because he is waiting to discover if network A&E are to commission a TV pilot he has shot called 'The Beast', reports the New York Daily News.
I don't know about you but doesn't it seem sensible for Swayze to take time out to deal with the chemo? Why this story about "artistic reasons"? Whilst it could be true, it seems rather dubious.
While some reports say Swayze's weight has plummeted others say this is not true. What is true is that loved ones are pitching in with meals.
"I'm buying him gourmet chicken pot pies and we're putting them in the blender". "He kept his weight up, and now he's back on solid foods." This comment is a contradiction isn't it? How could he keep his weight up when it is known (and seen from photos) that he has lost a lot of weight?
It looks as though there may be a smokescreen going on to cover up how ill Patrick really is? Maybe this is more about his and his family's privacy and we should be respecting that.
Talking of smokescreens - the Dirty Dancing star is still smoking up to three packets of ciggies a day and pancreatic cancer is known to be linked to smoking. It is also a cancer which kills 75% of those diagnosed within the first year as it is a silent killer which spreads quickly. Swayze's Oncologist George Fischer, was extremely positive when the story first broke, declaring that Patrick had "a very limited amount of the disease" and was "responding well to treatment". The following day Dr Fischer quoted in an American article ". "I think that each patient has the right to be hopeful and optimistic. But the sad truth is that there aren't as many (positive outcomes) as we would like."
One website (iol) stated yesterday 14/3 that, "The doctor told him last week that he would not survive more than a few weeks from now, as it had reportedly been claimed that the disease had spread".
The 55-year-old actor has had three doses of chemotherapy till date but the tumour has reduced much less than the doctors had expected. But, his publicists maintains that the ‘Dirty Dancing" star is responding well.
Whilst I cannot confirm the information from 'iol', everything else written here is confirmed with numerous other trusted websites.
I wish Patrick and his family well but the outcome of this is looking bleak. I shall continue to research this story.
For further information and support on pancreatic cancer:
http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=2795
http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=2795
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