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Patrick Swayze

Patrick Swayze (1952—2009) American actor who made his name with blockbuster movies like 'Dirty Dancing' and 'Ghost;' married for 32 years to childhood sweetheart Lisa Niemi.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (IPMN, or Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm) in 2008; surgery wasn't an option. However, he underwent chemotherapy at Stanford University Medical Center and then was treated with Cyberknife radiotherapy. The pioneering CyberKnife shoots hundreds of beams of radiation at tumours that are normally tricky to reach. Because it moves with the patient's breathing, it can target tumours previously thought inoperable because of close proximity to major blood vessels.

Swayze was hospitalized with pneumonia as a complication of chemotherapy treatments in early 2009 and in April learned that the cancer had metastasized to his liver. He tried an experimental drug, Vatalanib, which aims to inhibit the growth of tumors by stopping the enzymes needed for cell growth and proliferation. The drug is still very much in the testing stage and hasn’t been approved for regular use yet.

He was diagnosed just after he wrapped up shooting the pilot for the A&E series 'The Beast,' in which he plays the lead character, a maverick undercover FBI agent named Charles Barker. He'd had what he thought was nagging indigestion and eventually went to get the symptoms checked out when they became more severe. He continued to work 12-hour days throughout his treatment after A&E, with a faith uncharacteristic in the entertainment world, picked up the series and began shooting a mere two weeks after seeing the pilot.

"How do you nurture a positive attitude when all the statistics say you're a dead man? You go to work," Swayze told the New York Times.

He's hardly shown the strain on set, missing only about a day and a half of work, and by halfway through shooting had put about 20 lbs back on by drinking muscle-building shakes.

"You can hardly tell with the guy. He's such a man, you know? The sickest thing about him on set is probably his jokes. He's there every day and on the pilot you see him carrying me out, and I'm about 190 lbs or whatever, the man is 56. It's amazing. He does nearly all of his stunts, he's there every day, walks around his huge trailer," noted co-star Travis Fimmel during a press conference.

Swayze finished the twelve new episodes, but his bout of pneumonia in January prevented him from promoting the series. It was cancelled in June 2009, presumably as a result of his health issues.

He had a heavy smoking habit, which is a major risk factor for pancreatic cancer. He didn't see a whole lot of point in quitting after his diagnosis. "When it looks like I may live longer than five minutes I'll drop cigarettes like a hot potato," he said....View full story

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Floss your teeth. Apparently there is a correlation of flossing with longer life spans! My dentist told me that if you were to choose between flossing and brushing, he recommended flossing!