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1 item from 2009

6 January 2009 8:01 AM, PST | WENN | See recent WENN news »

Patrick Swayze often feels scared and angry as he faces his battle against cancer - but fears he has only seen the beginning of his fight against the disease.

The Dirty Dancing star announced he was battling pancreatic cancer at the beginning of last year and has since undergone treatment for the illness.

In his first televised interview since he was diagnosed, he talks candidly about his worries to U.S. broadcaster Barbara Walters on the programme 20/20.

He says, "There's a lot of fear here. There's a lot of stuff going on. Yeah, I'm scared. Yeah, I'm angry. Yeah, I'm (asking) why me. Yeah, I'm all this stuff. You can bet that I'm going through hell. And I've only seen the beginning of it."

And Swayze reveals the terrifying moments when he realised something was wrong - and the physical anguish he faced before his diagnosis.

He adds, "I tried to have champagne, and it would be like pouring acid, you know, on an open wound. My indigestion issues got gigantic and constant. And then I started thinking, 'I'm getting skinny.'

"I dropped about 20 pounds in the blink of an eye. And then when you see it in the mirror, when all of a sudden, you pull your eyes down and the bottom of your eyes go yellow and jaundice sets in - then you know something's wrong."

Doctors found Swayze had a malignant tumour in his midsection and a tiny mass on his liver, but after a series of procedures over several days, doctors discovered it was worse than they originally thought - the actor had Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

But Swayze was optimistic about his diagnosis, telling experts, "Watch me! You watch what I pull off."

The exclusive interview is set to air in the U.S. on Wednesday. »

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1 item from 2009