Patrick Swayze's Pancreatic Cancer Battle 'Was Like Living in a Complete Nightmare 24/7,' His Widow Lisa Recalls

Patrick Swayze's widow, Lisa Niemi Swayze, is opening up about the "complete nightmare" the couple endured when the late actor first found out he had cancer in 2008.

Lisa discussed the ordeal during her Tuesday, April 9, appearance on Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes' podcast.

Lisa, 67, recalled the exact moment her husband was told the news, sharing, "He turned to me and said, 'I’m a dead man.'"

"I didn’t know much about pancreatic cancer, but he did, and from what he knew, anytime you heard someone had pancreatic cancer it was like, 'Well, he’s out of here,'" the actress explained.

"The doctor said you can go ahead and treat it and be as aggressive as you want, but do think about getting your affairs in order sooner rather than later," she continued. "That's a tough thing to hear."

After the diagnosis, Lisa said she channeled "every ounce of energy ... into helping him live."

Lisa said she did cry occasionally, but she did so in private after the Dirty Dancing lead caught her once, which "scared him."

There was one moment in particular during his battle that broke Lisa's heart, as she recalled that while walking around near their New Mexico home, "he looked at me with tears in his eyes [and] said, 'I want to live.'"

"Your life turns on a dime, and it’s just never gonna be the same after that. Everything shifted," she explained of how their life changed. "We always called ourselves optimistic realists, because we knew in all likelihood how this was gonna turn out, but we held out that he would be the one to make it through it, because miracles do happen."

"We kept so positive about everything, but I tell you what, it was like living in a complete nightmare 24/7," the choreographer confessed.

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The Ghost star acknowledged his bad habit of smoking up to 60 cigarettes a day likely "had something to do with" his cancer. However, he continued to smoke while undergoing chemotherapy.

The longtime lovebirds met in 1970 when Lisa was taking dance lessons from Patrick's mom. The couple married in 1975 and stayed together until the actor died at age 57 in 2009, 20 months after his original diagnosis.

The pair didn't have any children during their marriage, though Lisa did suffer one miscarriage.

In 2014, she married jeweler Albert DePrisco.