Patrick Swayze interview

I only caught the bits of the Barbara Walters/Patrick Swayze interview that made it to Youtube this morning, but I checked the pancreatic cancer boards to see what others thought. Interesting.

First of all, everyone wanted to know all the technical details. So how are his mets doing? If he had to change types of chemo, what kind of reaction did he have to the first ones? And what is his CA19-9 marker right now? Finally someone pointed out that he's fighting the good fight and deserves his privacy.

Well, yes and no. Obviously, I'm all in favor of anyone with pc (or all of us, for that matter) having as good a life as possible without interruptions from paparazzi or people with morbid curiosity. On the other hand, those of us with pc really need a poster boy, and Swayze makes a great one, if only because he's survived so well so long.

I was struck by a couple of things about the way he's dealt with it. He's continued to work, and he's continued to smoke. I'm filled with admiration that he's been able to work through the disease and the chemo, though I'm thankful that I'd retired before mine happened. I think maybe there's a difference between being a high profile star who can probably take naps in his dressing room between shots and being a teacher with kids in and out all day. But that is not to put down his accomplishment -- and for him, being able to continue working has probably been in itself great therapy.

As for the smoking? In my humble opinion, he's out of his mind -- though the time he should have quit was years back. On the other hand, I quit years back. And maybe smoking 40 years ago put me where I am today, and maybe it didn't. However, at this point, does it make much difference? There's a lot of discussion on the pc boards about "minor sins." If someone is losing too much weight, is ice cream a bad solution, even if it has all that sugar, which feeds the cancer? What about painkillers? I read a post from someone with late-stage, very painful disease whose doctor didn't want him addicted to painkillers and wouldn't prescribe them. That's simply wrong.

I like Swayze's attitude of setting priorities and dealing with the big stuff first. And if, for him, that means continuing to smoke, well, more power to him.