Patrick Swayze Speaks Out About Pancreatic Cancer: “I’m Going Through Hell”

Patrick Swayze opened up in an interview with Barbara Walters recently, in which he proclaimed that he is “going through hell” while battling cancer. In the interview, which will air on Wednesday, January 7th at 10 p.m. EST, Swayze admits that it’s been emotionally taxing and added “I’ve only seen the beginning of it.”

He said that the first sign of a problem was indigestion, and that on New Year’s Eve in 2007, “I tried to have champagne, and it would be like pouring acid, you know, on an open wound.” From there, he reports that he lost 20 pounds “in the blink of an eye.”

Swayze was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer soon after, and tried to keep it under wraps for as long as possible. When the tabloids found out and reported that he had five weeks to live, he told Walters that his response was “Watch me! You watch what I pull off.” While his public appearances have been limited, Swayze did attend the Stand Up to Cancer fundraiser in September and filmed The Beast for five months in Chicago, which premieres on January 15th.

Swayze has exceeded medical and professional expectations after being diagnosed, but he admits that “There’s a lot of fear here. 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.”

“I keep dreaming of a future, a future with a long and healthy life,” Swayze said, “not lived in the shadow of cancer, but in the light.”