Michael Douglas Is Determined To Defeat Cancer

Actor Michael Douglas is still maintaining good spirits in the wake of his battle with Stage IV throat cancer.

“Nothing has deterred me from my belief that I am going to beat this,” the Oscar-winning actor, 65, told Parade magazine in a new interview. “My doctors’ prognosis is for a full recovery. I have no reason to doubt them.”

Douglas continues to undergo radiation and chemotherapy--his chance for survival is about 80 percent. He publicly spoke about his condition to People magazine and Late Show with David Letterman.

“Not going public with having cancer was not much of an option, even if I had objected,” Douglas said in the interview. “When you are a celebrity, nothing remains secret for very long. If it helps bring attention, then that is a major upside to this whole thing. Millions of families are going through the same thing my family and I are now going through. If I can bring any relief or encouragement to those suffering, that’s the good news.”

He brought his children (he has three with wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones) to one his radiation treatment. “They weren’t frightened,” said Douglas. “And fear is one of our biggest enemies. We told the kids a couple days after I was tested and it was confirmed.”

On the silver screen, Douglas is reprising his Academy Award-winning role as Gordon Gekko in the upcoming "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," the sequel to the 1987 Oliver Stone film "Wall Street."

Selected Reading: Parade

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