Patrick Swayze Won’t Quit Smoking (Barbara Walters Special)
Despite fears that he have only two years left to live, actor Patrick Swayze has refused to quit smoking cigarettes .
In a TV special with veteran newswoman Barbara Walters, which airs on Wednesday night, the 56-year-old Dirty Dancing star says kicking the habit is not a priority right now, even though he accepts that the bad habit probably caused his agressive pancreatic cancer.
“I will go so far as to say probably smoking had something to do with my pancreatic cancer.”
(….Dude, you could be dying! If taking care of yourself isn’t a “priority” at this point, when will it ever be?)
Patrick says he has “seriously cut back” on cigarettes.
Written by Castina on January 7th, 2009 | Tagged as: Barbara Walters,Patrick Swayze,TV,TV News
On January 7th 2009, Derek wrote:
"If taking care of yourself isn’t a “priority” at this point, when will it ever be?"
If it's not going to change the prognosis at this point, why bother going through the suffering of breaking the habit?
On January 7th 2009, Castina wrote:
The way I see it, as long as there's breath in his body, there's hope that his condition could turn around. Why continue partaking in something that will significantly decrease any chance he has of making it out of this thing alive? Especially when it's very likely that smoking is what prompted the cancer in the first place.
On January 9th 2009, The Autoerotic Zone wrote:
I meant to post something heartfelt, then moralize about smoking, but the international beauty pix caused me to lose my train of thought.
On January 9th 2009, amy wrote:
I believe he said he WOULD quit smoking if his prognosis improved dramatically.
Quitting smoking is hard. I have tried it about 22 times in the past 3 years. If I knew I was terminal I doubt I would waste the energy and angst to quit smoking..
However that said, I quit Sunday morning. Life is short, why make it shorter?
On January 10th 2009, Karen wrote:
I quit smoking 18 months ago (not because I wanted to but because I could no longer have one in comfort when I wanted one), its not easy and its stressful. As adults we have a right to choose if it doesnt affect others and fighting cancer is hard enough on its own without adding to it. If he has made the educated decision to enjoy a cigarette then who are we to get on his case and make his life harder during this bad time.
On January 13th 2009, LindaLou wrote:
I quit smoking about a year ago but if I found out I had terminal cancer, I would be a smoker again as soon as I could get to the store. The man is dying, quitting now would be foolish.
On January 15th 2009, Amanda wrote:
I am a health care professional and i know at that stage of CA quitting smioking is not going to add any time on to his life expectancy or change his prognosis so he has done his research to say it is not a priority right now.
On February 1st 2009, Georgette wrote:
Congrats to those who quit, it's hard to do. I've never smoked. My mother lost 2 good friends to lung cancer. They couldn't stop and it made them even more stressed about their condition when they tried, so, they smoked to the end. So maybe it is all for the best that he keeps smoking. And believe me, I'm against smoking; but he could be sent off quicker by the stress of trying to quit.