Michael Douglas is vowing to beat cancer.
The 65-year-old “Wall Street” star said in an interview with People magazine that he expects to make a full recovery after a walnut-sized tumor was found on the base of his tongue in early August. Douglas is currently undergoing an eight-week course of radiation and chemotherapy in New York. His doctors said there is no evidence that the cancer has spread.
“I’m treating this as a curable disease,” he said. “It’s a fight. I’ll beat this.”
Douglas’ wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, said the most difficult part of the ordeal has been seeing her husband fatigued “because Michael is never tired.” Zeta-Jones, who has two children — Dylan, 10, and Carys, 7 — with Douglas, said she was furious doctors didn’t detect the tumor earlier. Douglas said he spent months seeking a cause for throat and ear pain.
“Without having to blame anybody … these things sometimes just don’t show up,” he said.
Appearing on David Letterman’s “Late Show” on Tuesday night, Douglas revealed that his cancer is in stage IV – the most serious stage –but then said that “he big thing you’re always worried about is it spreading, so I am head and neck. I am above the neck, so nothing’s gone down, and the expectations are good.”
Besides his medical battle, Douglas is also facing a legal showdown. Lawyers representing the actor and his ex-wife Diandra Douglas are tangling over her claim that she’s entitled to half his earnings from “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” the “Wall Street” sequel set to open Sept. 24. Douglas said the lawsuit “kind of came out of left field.”
