Patrick Swayze Being Treated For Pancreatic Cancer
According to the AP, a representative for Patrick Swayze says he is being treated for pancreatic cancer but is well enough to continue working. The “Dirty Dancing” actor has a very limited amount of disease and appears to be responding well to treatment, according to Dr. George Fisher, Swayze’s physician.
“Patrick is continuing his normal schedule during this time, which includes working on upcoming projects,” the statement said. Swayze has two projects in the works: the movie “Powder Blue,” and a television movie titled “The Beast,” according to the Web site imdb.com. Both are scheduled for release this year.
March 5th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
In 1984, I was roommates with Patrick’s mother-in-law, Karen Haapaniemi, in Houston. We had occassion to visit Buddy and Lisa in L.A., while there, we watched Patrick, Lisa and a friend of theirs perform a silent dance skit where voice overs told us what they were thinking. It was a huge success and later, at their house where we stayed, following a celebration party, Buddy and I were the only ones remaining still talking. We’d had a few beers and some sadness crept into the conversation relating to his regret that his father had not seen any of his success to that point. At one point, he said, “Y’know, Larry, I’m not really happy with what I’m doing, everything seems so superficial.” I asked, “What exactly do you want to do, become a doctor, or something?” “I’m not sure, I’ve been exploring different careers, something I can make a real difference in people’s lives on an ongoing basis.” “Well, Buddy, from what I saw on stage last night, I strongly recommend you take a stand right where you are and dance. Let somebody build a movie around that and I guarantee you a blockbuster movie, bigger than Indiana Jones.” “Do you have any idea how painful it is to dance with a f**ked up knee?” “No, not really, but if you can wring one more dance out of it and put it on film, you’ll never have to dance again. I guarantee it.” With that, he looked at me, grinned and went upstairs and I went to sleep on the couch finally. Later, after moving to Santa Barbara, I got a call from Karen, “Larry, did you talk to Buddy that night we were there?” “Yeah, for quite a while, why, what’s up?” ” Have you seen ‘Dirty Dancing’?” “No, I thought it was a porno.” ” No, it’s not, it is a beautiful love story and you had a lot to do with his decision to make it.” Little did I know the end result. Goes to show, y’never know what small comments can influence, be careful what you say to anyone.