Patrick Swayze: I May Only Live “Two Years”
Patrick Swayze – who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year – says he may have only two years to live.
On ABC’s Patrick Swayze: The Truth (airing tonight, 10 p.m. ET), Swayze, 56, tells Barbara Walters he has already has defied survival rates and reports predicting he should have “been dead a long time.”
Still, he admits, “I’d say five years is pretty wishful thinking. Two years seems likely if you’re going to believe statistics.
“I want to last until they find a cure, which means I’d better get a fire under it,” says the star, who denies he is on his “death bed.”
He admits he is “scared” but says he is waging his battle against cancer “moment to moment.”
“When do you decide the fight isn’t matching up to your quality of life?” he asked. “So far, I’ve got potential for a lot of quality of life.”
He also says he refused painkillers while working on his new A&E drama The Beast.
People thought he was “out of his mind,” he says. But “when you’re shooting you can’t do drugs… ‘cos it takes the edge off your brain.”
Swayze says he missed only a day-and-a-half of filming of the show, which premieres next week.
As for his smoking habit, the actor has “cut back” but says quitting for him is not a “priority.”
