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Still, Swayze's struggle was made more difficult when word of his diagnosis appeared in tabloids along with headlines claiming he had five weeks to live. "For him to read that, it's so hurtful," says Don. "How can you say five weeks, five days or five months with cancer? He didn't deserve that." As for reports that Swayze is a three-pack-a-day smoker, "he's been a smoker on and off for years," says Don. "He never smoked three packs a day."
Nor has the actor, as the tabloids have reported, lost his signature wavy hair or any serious amount of weight. "He's doing amazing," says Don. During his chemo treatments, "he spends the time coaching the doctors on how they ain't seen nothing yet," adds Don, "and saying, 'You just wait! I'm going to be the guy that five years from now we're all going to be talking about this day. . . .' And we realize he's had the chemo running for the last 10 minutes. He's oblivious."
In fact, the former ballet dancer – and PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive in 1991, whom Dirty Dancing choreographer Kenny Ortega describes as "a strong guy who knows where to pull from; he has a deep, deep well" – had been feeling good in the months leading up to his diagnosis. Working together on the upcoming film Powder Blue late last year, "he was healthy, tan. He was playing an ex rock-and-roll star and had this long-haired wig," says Don, an actor. "He was better than ever! You couldn't tell a thing."
