Patrick Swayze’s widow Lisa Niemi Swayze has opened up about her difficult journey following her cancer diagnosis.
During a recent appearance on the Amy and TJ Podcast, Lisa shared her initial reaction to hearing Patrick was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2008.
“When he first found out he had pancreatic cancer, he turned to me and said, ‘I’m dead,'” Lisa said on the podcast. “I didn’t know much about pancreatic cancer, but he did. And every time I hear someone has pancreatic cancer, I’m like, ‘Oh, he’s out of here.’ was.”
She further explained that the actor’s doctors confirmed his diagnosis following an endoscopy and then informed her of his condition, leaving her wondering when it would be the right time to tell her husband. .
Lisa explained that her first reaction when she heard Patrick’s cancer diagnosis was, “I’m dead.” (PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
Patrick Swayze’s widow Lisa Niemi recalls first signs of pancreatic cancer: ‘I continue to fight’
After learning of her husband’s diagnosis, she said she “didn’t want to tell my husband when he was annoying” because he was still “pretty knocked out.” She chose to wait instead, and when she woke up from a nap in her hospital room a few hours later, she added, “The doctor was sitting across from me and in bed,” adding, “The doctor had just arrived. I knew that,” he said. She told him. “
“Sure enough, the doctor said that you can continue treatment and be as aggressive as you like, but please think about getting your affairs in order early.” Listen to that. It’s tough,” she told Amy and the media. TJ Podcast. ”
From then on, Lisa explained, “we were going to put every ounce of energy we had into saving his life.” Her first instinct was to call her sister-in-law, who worked as a medical oncologist in Texas, and suggest that she enroll Patrick in a clinical trial and “come out at gunpoint.” Ta.
Lisa explained that apart from how they treated his cancer medically, they did their best to stay positive.
Lisa explained that she and Patrick tried to maintain a positive attitude during treatment. (Dave Bennett/Getty Images)
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“Life is turned upside down and is never the same again,” she explained. “Everything has changed. We always called ourselves optimistic realists, because we knew perfectly well how this situation would turn out, but we believed he would get through it. We just kept thinking positive because miracles do happen.”Everything, but let me tell you, it was like living in a complete nightmare 24/7. ”
While it’s important for them to stay positive, Lisa admitted it was difficult at times and said she sometimes cried, but only in private. She told the podcast host that Patrick saw her crying once and was “scared” so she tried to make sure he never caught her again.
Particularly heartbreaking for Lisa was when they were walking on a ranch in New Mexico and he told her he wanted to go camping one last time.
“We’re walking together, it’s a beautiful day, and he looks at me with tears in his eyes and says, ‘I want to live,'” she said.
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Lisa and Patrick met when they were teenagers and were married for 34 years until Patrick’s death. (Dave Bennett/Getty Images)
The two met at their mother’s ballet school in Houston, Texas, when Lisa was 15 and Patrick was 19, and later married in 1975. The two were together for 34 years, and Lisa remained by his side until her death in September 2009.
“She was unlike anyone I knew. She was like a flower. If I started doing macho things, she would cut me off right away,” Patrick told People magazine in 1984. told. ”
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