Director Stone says Michael Douglas' health precarious

[Liberal_in_LA]

Director Stone says Douglas' health precarious

Associated Press October 12, 2010

Director Oliver Stone said Tuesday he is worried about the health of actor Michael Douglas, who is battling throat cancer.

Douglas, who reprised his role as stock trader Gordon Gekko in Stone's latest film "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," is in a "precarious" state of health, Stone told reporters in Berlin.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/10/12/entertainment/e070216D93.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz12B9wL5Ev

[grasswire]

1. the pictures on the supermarket tabloids are pretty grim...

...dunno if they are photoshopped or not, though.

What a shame.

[hlthe2b]

4. Yes, I saw that yesterday... It was very jarring and depressing.

I can only hope it is highly exaggerated and ultimately wrong. Sad. Very sad.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Well, I can attest to being worse off after the treatments ended. That first month or so was so much

worse than going through the treatments. Taste and any interest in food is gone. Throat and mouth are sore. Jaw bones could be deteriorating. Extreme fatigue.

But, overall, I think his chances are excellent. I've been cancer free for 21 months now.

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. congrats on being cancer free.

[malaise]

8. Great news

:grouphug:

[wisteria]

11. Congratulations and good wishes for a long and healthy life! n/t

[myrna minx]

17. Congratulations and all of my best to you.

:hug:

[OnyxCollie]

5. My friend Lee had stage IV throat cancer.

Had to have his palate removed, which left him unable to eat. (Everything would come through his nose.)

He could barely speak.

His throat looked like beef jerky from all the radiation.

The chemo treatments were so severe, he required a week-long stay in the hospital after each one.

The pain was so intense, he would become delusional.

He died on the Fourth of July. I remember leaving the hospice and seeing the fireworks go off over Lake Erie.

[Still Blue in PDX]

6. I'm so sorry.

:hug:

[BlackHoleSon]

7. At what price?

I know for every individual that choice to go through with chemo and radiation is an intense one. When I hear stories like this one, it only strengthens my resolve to enjoy what time I have and let nature take care of the rest. I'm sorry about your friend.

[renate]

9. ...oh dear...

It sounds like you have a diagnosis too. I won't be overly inquisitive and ask what it is--I'll just offer this :hug: and my sincere best wishes.

[sinkingfeeling]

16. I went through this for throat/tonsil cancer last year. As I wrote above, the worst is the month or

so after the completion of the treatment. Then I went through some depression because of the lasting effects of having an 'ugly' tongue, no taste buds, and no saliva causing me to have to carry water everywhere etc. Began to feel like myself after about 8 or 9 months.

I have been attending support group meetings SPOHNC (Support for People with Oral, Head, and Neck Cancer) as soon as I was diagnosed. There are several people there who lost parts of their jaws or palate and they would tell you becoming cancer free was worth everything they've been through.

[wisteria]

10. I think he may be fine. No one gets through with cancer treatments and looks great.

They wear you down.

[Raschel]

12. Well everybody tells me I look great. Maybe they're lying? lol

Anyway, the article says that a six to eight week recuperation period is typical for all cancer patients. Ha!

Although I am cancer free I am dealing with the after-effects of treatment, neuropathy, stiffness, fatigue.

The body takes a long time to recover from treatment and some effects don't go away.

[housewolf]

13. I had throat cancer in 1976

Still alive and kicking but the after-effects of radiation have caught up with me. I've had increasing trouble speaking and eating over the past 4-5 years, been on a feeding tube for 3 yrs now because I can barely swallow anymore. Hard to deal with, especially the speaking difficulties, but I keep reminding myself that it's now more than half my life ago so I've lived more than 2 times longer than I might have...

I was one of the lucky ones.

I'm so sorry and sad for Michael Douglas and his family.

[Subdivisions]

14. The capsule is now being moved into place.

Live images on Ed Show, MSNBC.

[librechik]

15. sad part is he was told he was negative--then months later they said oops!

and began treatment late. Hope he is ok. Seems like a good guy.

[sinkingfeeling]

18. Oral cancers are among the hardest to find and diagnose. Most are in late stages because of that.

[cbdo2007]

19. Didn't Michael Douglas say he got throat cancer from cunnilingus?

I guess he got an oral version of HPV, which gave him the throat cancer. Don't remember where I heard that but it was on one of the talk shows.