I think this Star Magazine cover is rather distasteful. But should Star get credit for saying what a lot of us are thinking? My mother and I were recently discussing Michael Douglas and whether or not his cancer is worse than people are letting on. Her thought is that Michael is dying, and that Catherine is devastated. Which is basically the gist of the Star piece – that Catherine and Michael are preparing for the worst.
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones’ May-December romance beat the odds and blossomed into a beautiful marriage that has lasted nearly 10 years. But now they face the hardest test of all as he bravely battles Stage IV throat cancer.
In the October 18 issue of Star, on sale now, we report that the couple secretly fears that these could be their final days together. While Catherine was recently in her home country of Wales for a Ryder Cup golf tournament event, she received an upsetting phone call from her ailing husband’s medical team.
“The doctor spoke to her about Michael’s condition,” a family friend tells Star. Catherine was forced to cut her trip short and rushed back to his side in New York, worrying that she might be returning to say goodbye.
“They’re trying to be brave, but really they’re preparing for the worst,” a source tells Star. Pick up this week’s issue of Star today for our full story about Michael and Catherine’s brave struggle.
[From Star Magazine]
If the worst for Michael is on the horizon, I hope that he’s lucky enough to be surrounded by friends and family in his last days. That being said, Michael is one tough old bastard, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was able to beat the odds. We’ll see.
Update by Celebitchy: Gossip Cop got a quote from Douglas’ rep, who calls this story “complete rubbish” and discounts several of their claims. Here’s their report:
Catherine Zeta-Jones “did not rush back” home after the Ryder Cup event.
In fact, she was on the exact same flight she had always been booked on to return home.
The rep also informs Gossip Cop, “Tomorrow is [Douglas’] last day of treatment,” and as opposed to Star’s morbid account of how these are possibly his last days, the Oscar winner is going to recuperate for the next six weeks, and then “hopes to announce he’s clean.”
[From Gossip Cop]
Hang in there MD!
Star cover courtesy of CoverAwards.
hope he beats it, this is just sad all around 🙁
I just watched him in Solitary Man. I forgot what a great actor he is. This is very sad and hopefully not true.
GMAB Michael is going through chemo and radiation . Do you know what that does to the body? Compare how he looks now to how he looked around the Time he was on Letterman before he started treatment. Ten yers ago My mother lost 20 lbs during her first month of treatment for Stage 4 breast cancer and all her hair. Yet she still alive today- cancer free. I don’t know how bad his situation is but you can’t base it on pics taken during treatment.
His father survived a helicopter crash and a stroke, so he has tough genes!! Prayers for Michael!
I hope it is not true…
star magazine sucks
and the f*cking vultures descend.
I felt so badly when I watched Wall St. and in one of his scenes he referred to “cancer”. It was a heartbreaking moment. He’s truly an acting treasure. I hope for better times for him and his wife.
I hope that he beats this. He seems like a fighter. All my thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family. Come on now, we cannot lose The Great GORDON GEKKO.
I hope he is around for a long time. I just watched MONEY NEVER SLEEPS and man is he a damn good actor!
God bless Michael Douglas and his family. I pray he beats this thing!!
Wow, he really looks like his Dad, hope he beats this.
My dad is going through chemo right now for stage 4 colon cancer. He looks a whole lot worse than Michael. Chemo is hard. Good luck Michael, good luck Dad.
I watched him in Romancing the Stone the other night and BOY was he handsome! I really forgot-and that was one of my fav movies when I was little.
I hope he makes a full recovery-esp for his children. =(
He’s a fighter, and I have faith.
MICHAEL, STAY WITH US.
He’ll beat it. He is a touch guy, and his entire family is resilient. I wish them nothing but the best.
@gamblea:
‘
Wishing you all the best for your dad, and your family
I was really surprised when Michael Douglas said on Dave Letterman that the doctors told him that he has about 80% chance of beating cancer. My father died of a head and neck cancer several years ago. Granted, he lived nearly three years after his diagnosis but eventually he had to let go. Head and neck cancers are devasting because they physically, mentally, and spiritually tear at the patient as well as the people who love him. I hope he tackles this thing like he tackled his career during the 80s and 90s. 🙂
god bless the family is right. sadly sometimes tabloid reports turn out to be true. Michael was gorgeous in his day as was his father Kirk who I first saw in the film In Harms Way with John Wayne & Patricia Neal both of whom he outlived.
I also hope this is wrong but if not, I pray he gets well soon.
Disgusting headline. Beyond the pale. I hope there’s a special level in hell for the people who decided to use (or misuse) this information to make a profit.
What exactly is “throat” cancer?
If he has esophageal cancer, he’s gone.
WE HAVE TO KILL CANCER.
Is it just me or does that cover photo look like a terrible photoshop patch job. She looks like she was shot indoors at close range and he outdors from longer range.
This cover is beyond bull***t . There’s a limit to everything, and what they’re going through in this moment is PRIVATE, their grief must remain private.
Riley Did the doctors tell your dad what his chances were in terms of percentages of living 5 years?
My father is a surgeon and he was shocked when he heard that Michael’s doctors gave him an 80% chance of survival and felt that Michael was being dishonest about his diagnosis. He said that Michael’s chances were more like 15-20%. He has a very serious, very aggressive type of cancer located on the soft tissue at the base of his tongue which enables the cancer to metastasize quickly. Plus Michael was already feeling uncomfortable & smelling strange odors (throat is connected to the nose) – which likely means the cancer had a long time to grow and spread.
Very sad news though, I like Michael Douglas very much.
As the wife of a man battling cancer my best wishes and prayers are with ALL of us afflicted with this scourge.
For shame on Star, we all know there is no depth to which they will not stoop, but we truly need to stop supporting them when they latch onto grave illness or children or outing homosexuality. All disgusting, and none of our f&%$ing business!!!
Well this absolutely just killed my morning , I hope this isn’t true . Stay Strong Michael .
Oh, it is just wrong to print that about anyone especially if it was true which I don’t believe it is! Shame on that mag! Creeps.
The daughter of a friend of mine had mouth cancer. She lasted almost 5 years, but lost more of her tongue and mouth. She was unable to speak for a long time before her death and had also gone to a liquid diet. All her food had to be liquefied.
The surgeon would know better than me, but it seems that Michael is going to have to lose some if not all of his tongue and maybe more.
Thoughts and prayers to him and his family. He needs to beat this to see those two little ones grow up.
I think this cover is really a low for Star and that is saying alot. If this was true there should be some respect for their privacy and if it isn’t what kind of twisted person makes this crap up? By the way although I am not a big MD fan I hope he’s doing well.
This cover is beyond despicable. The man is in the fight of his life, the last thing he needs is tabloids out there predicting he’s in his final days. Absolutely inhumane. I remember Patrick Swayze, who never engaged with the tabloids, felt compelled to speak out when they ran similar headlines. They’re putting Michael in the grave to sell copies. Beyond comprehension. I’m not one to wish the worst on anyone but I hope each and every person at Star Magazine has some kind of “aha” moment when they realize this sort of thing is reprehensible – be that a cancer battle of their own or of a loved one….
I beat cancer earlier this year at the age of 35. The thought of leaving my husband and little kids behind was enough to put me into fight mode and I feel lucky every day that I beat it. I hope the same for Michael and for your dad, Gamblea.
@Kim (#25): it was the 15-20% range which turned out to be correct. He lived almost 3 years from the day they took his tibia to reform his jawbone after having cut the cancer out. And yes, my dad was a smoker and drinker and hard living guy his whole life. It was a risk he took, but I think in his final days, he really came to peace with himself and felt sorry that he had wasted so much of his life. As a child, when a parent is in such a state, it is hard not to forgive them. You have to let go of the pieces of them that have made you frustrated and angry and hold on to the parts of them that you love and are proud of.
We can’t complain about how low a tabloid will sink to sell their magazine, when people like us waste the precious minutes of our lives reading gossip sites. They are just feeding the monster with their articles. And we eat it up.
That cover is disgusting. I have never, and I hope to never buy that tabloid. Don’t support that s***
With his fathers’ genes in him, he’s got a great chance at survival. The Son of Spartacus won’t be defeated by this evil, nasty disease.
I think it’s going to take a lot of time and chemicals and therapy, but ultimately he’ll get past this and will live a long life, just like his old man.
“The surgeon would know better than me, but it seems that Michael is going to have to lose some if not all of his tongue and maybe more.”
There are so many variables that we don’t know about that it’s impossible to really speculate.
I know a gentleman who had part of his tongue removed due to cancer. They wree able to do a reconstruction. It was about 4 years ago and he’s just fine. But he’s Czech, and has a strong accent…it was very hard to understand him for a few months!
LindaR: So right. It’s goofy.
I have never been sure about Catherine’s substance as a wife and a woman but she appears to be proving her metal. I hope her dedication comes from love, the committment of marriage, and her good character and not from something else, like money. I’m going to think positive and say that it’s wonderful to see this in Hollywood. God bless them.
I think this cover is beyond distasteful-I mean they are talking about the mans life-not some BS like an affair or gaining 20lbs or some other crap…
I dont know what his prognosis is but my brother in law has been having chemo,radiation and god knows what else for multiple myeloma since January-the bottom vetabrae of his spine have collapsed from the cancer eating the bones,he has had only 3 weeks break since he started,hes in constant pain,nauseous all the time,can barely walk and all this from a guy who ran the Boston Marathon 5 years ago..
However,even with all this,we try to stay positive and just keep taking it a day at a time….
I couldnt imagine having to see a magazine cover like that when Im sure they’re just trying to get through each day…
Whether or not it’s true, they are total assholes for printing it.
My grandfather was a maxillofacial surgeon, one of a family of dentists and surgeons. He chose that field because his brother lost most of his face to jaw cancer. My greatuncle lived for many, many years after the radical surgery. He had to use a mirror to eat but other than that he coped very well.
Roger Ebert is even more profoundly affected, but he is still hanging on and producing some terrific writing.
Even if Michael loses part of his face or his tongue, there are a lot of assistive technologies now.
CZJ is said to blame the docs for missing the diagnosis. British papers have reported that she is furious that it wasn’t discovered earlier.
Congratulations to those of you here who have beaten cancer and my best wishes to those who are or who have loved ones who are fighting it (go gamblea’s dad!!!).
Yes, cancer is a scourge to all living beings – no creature (not even the shark) is exempt.
Yes, best wishes to everyone who had or is fighting cancer, or who has a loved one who is. I always hoped to die by heart attack or plane crash or something fast, because I’ve lost too many friends to cancer. Hope medical researchers can find a cure for the various cancers one day.
Eloquently stated, Riley.
I hope this is not true.
I mean, it’s really sad and who are those journalists to say “the last goodbye”? True or not this is a hell of situation and they’re surely break. So please, don’t go spread those nonsense Star or whatever magazine.
It breaks my heart to think he might not survive, and after that seeing photos of him taking his children to school..
If he were to lost his face that would mean a partial death to him. Because he’s an actor, without I think he will lose part of himself.
But better alive than dead.
We went throught this same thing with Patrick Swayze and Farrah last year. Stage 4 cancer is serious, people. By this time, it has already spread, especially since time was wasted by doctors who told him nothing was wrong. And he could afford the very best specialists.
Good luck, Michael, but it does seem like a very dire diagnosis.
#3/kim: i totally agree. chemo looks like hell… but shame on them for taking advantage of it for a cheap story.
even if it were true. it’s a foul cover story.
Gamblea – best wishes on your Dad’s recovery.
Atticus – way to fight! Glad to hear your story (and your comment about putting him in the grave to sell magazines – so true and disgusting).
Echoing what’s been said before. No one deserves to be scrutinized like this by the media during a tough time. Sad for his family.
Kaiser, I think your mother was spot on regarding the severity of Michael’s cancer. I also agree that it is much worse than what has been reported.
Star did not need to report this in my opinion and should have left this family alone.
My prayers go out to him and all the families that are battling this terrible disease.
Everybody should live their life as they see fit and live it to the fullest without wasting time.
We don’t now how many years we have left. live and let live and work at being happy and surrounded by people who trully love you.
Good luck to Catherine and Michael for their struggles. I hope he’ll make it and will be there for years for his family and children
Magazines should live this couple alone, life is difficult enough as it is without journalists taking pictures every time he leaves home.
God bless you Michael and your family, I hope you beat this and entertain us for much more years to come…You are a great actor!
This is just awful. Recall those terrible pics of Patrick Swazye that were all over the place? I hope that the pap’s don’t subject this family to such pain. There is more than enough of it as they work hard to get Michael through this phase of his life.
You can beat it, Michael!!!
Thoughts and best wishes for a full recovery…
Cancer sucks a$$! I lost my aunt to cancer years ago and I can only pray for a cure in the near future. Also P.S. to Star magazine…that’s a pretty dirtbag cover to have. Don’t write Michael Douglas off just yet, people.
He’s going through chemo and radiation treatment- it’s really rough going and he’s going to look really sick while undergoing treatment. With cancer, most times the treatment is worse than the symptoms of the disease.
I wish him all the best.
Prayers for Michael and family. Cancer sucks.
Just when he had finally found happiness, cancer comes to shit it all away. I truly hope he recovers from this.
Stage 4 means that the cancer is beyond the throat, and to the lymph nodes. Once it gets there it usually goes crazy, they usually only give in the 30% range for survival, this article is in BAD taste..dont support this folks.
I hope Mr. Douglas’ struggle will set an example to people in terms of the way they choose to live their lives and the consequences that come from those choices. My dad died of this cancer but never even tried to help himself. He drank and smoked all through radiation and chemo. A hard way to go.
Hope the only “goodbye” he’s saying for a while is the “off to work” goodbye…
Best wishes to everyone here whose family members are fighting the fight. And mad props of Kim’s (#3) mom! My sister is going through the same thing right now, and I hope she is as fortunate.
Hard to make uninformed assessments here… some Stage 4s are almost an automatic death sentence, other types are considered chronic and treatable. Just look at Elizabeth Edwards, several years after her breast cancer came back and spread. And Patrick Swayze — the fact that he lived almost 18 months after his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is nothing short of miraculous (the usual survival rate for that type, if I’m not mistaken, is three months after diagnosis). Michael Douglas seems like an uber-tough dude — let’s hope he kicks some ass here.
And yes, that cover is a total fake.
Sending lots of blessings & good positive energy his way!
I too have survived advanced cancer (ovarian, stage III/IV in my records).
I feel that cancer and its treatments are as hard or harder on the family of the actual patient. I had chemo and surgery and with each treatment I felt worse and worse and I could see my family just worrying and so stressed out about it. And there’s nothing you can really do to help the worry.
Cancer makes you look at your life and what’s important. It also scares the hell out of you.
The people connected with these low-class tabloids are racking up some seriously bad karma.
Hang in there Michael and family. You have many good thoughts heading your way.
Poor things. Cancer is the WORST and i wouldnt wish it upon anyone or for any spouse or family member to see a loved one lose his/her life to cancer. Ill keep them both in my prayers.
My prayers are with them.
While Star is distasteful they are most likely telling the truth. My grandma was diagnoised with bone cancer in 2002, she went through the treatments and beat it. Or so her doctor said. Until Jan 2004, she was no longer acting like the strong vibrant woman, was falling asleep everywhere, not eating and repeating stuff she said 30 seconds ago. She had suddenly become skin and bones. It was like watching a pod.
Turns out her doctor was a damn quack, and when my grandma was rushed to the hospital the cancer had spread to her brain. She later died in the hospital. I’m sorry but Stage 4 Throat cancer is serious, and Michael is most likely lying to everyone because he dosen’t want PITY. Sad to say if he lives to see 2012 it would be a miracle.
Any time you hear ‘stage 4′ it’s serious. You can’t stop it, only control or manage some of the less predatory forms. Sounds like Mr Douglas’ cancer is in the predatory column.
Whatever his prognosis I hope he and his family get the privacy they need.
@ musicfan: Was the doctor a quack for sure, or did the cancer just eff him over, too? My sister got her five-year clean bill of health a year ago. In May, diagnosed with Stage IV. How the fuck THAT can happen, I don’t know, but her doctors aren’t quacks (she’s a nurse and her husband’s a doc, so I think they’d know). My condolences, anyway.
Let’s cheer this thread up — who believes CZT is really only 40? 😉
Another tabloid did the same thing to Patrick Swayze during his fight with pancreatic cancer. It is disgusting.
A pox on Star for that shameful cover. I hope Michael beats this. Best wishes to him and his family during this difficult time.
Saw one of those gossip shows and it said that it’s typical to look rough after the radiation he’s had, and that he’ll have 6 weeks of recovery before he’s ready to really hit recovery hard. So agreed that the cover is distasteful, but yes, I’ve been wondering if he’ll make it, too.
This is so sad. Best wishes to Michael and Catherine.
Alix, I’m so sorry about your sister.
I feel so sorry for them. How awful for them having to see those covers in such a sensitive time…
Wish them all the best.
The fact that CZJ was rushing back to be with Micheal was front page news on one of the British tabloids…but then when you read a little further it said that she was going back on the flight she had been originally booked on. It is such a non-story. She is Welsh and was supporting her country/getting a big fat paycheck by attending the opening of the Ryder Cup. Totally insensitve of Star. Yes Micheal looks bad but chemo is HARD.
Guanavana fruit is good for people that have cancer, it helps like quemo does but does not have side effects. Sorry that I don’t know the name in English. Google it!!
What a shame.
Polls and questionnaires show that three doctors out of four (75 per cent) would refuse any chemotherapy because of its ineffectiveness against the disease and its devastating effects on the entire human organism. This is what many doctors and scientists have to say about chemotherapy:
“The majority of the cancer patients in this country die because of chemotherapy, which does not cure breast, colon or lung cancer. This has been documented for over a decade and nevertheless doctors still utilize chemotherapy to fight these tumors.” (Allen Levin, MD, UCSF, “The Healing of Cancer”, Marcus Books, 1990).
“If I were to contract cancer, I would never turn to a certain standard for the therapy of this disease. Cancer patients who stay away from these centers have some chance to make it.” (Prof. Gorge Mathe, “Scientific Medicine Stymied”, Medicines Nouvelles, Paris, 1989)
“Dr. Hardin Jones, lecturer at the University of California, after having analyzed for many decades statistics on cancer survival, has come to this conclusion: ‘… when not treated, the patients do not get worse or they even get better’. The unsettling conclusions of Dr. Jones have never been refuted”. (Walter Last, “The Ecologist”, Vol. 28, no. 2, March-April 1998)
“…for the overwhelming majority of the cases, there is no proof whatsoever that chemotherapy prolongs survival expectations. And this is the great lie about this therapy, that there is a correlation between the reduction of cancer and the extension of the life of the patient”. (Philip Day, “Cancer: Why we’re still dying to know the truth”, Credence Publications, 2000).
Wake up people. Learn how to create a body through diet and lifestyle that rejects cancer before you get to an advanced stage. There are still things Michael Douglas could do to try to survive, but medieval allopathic torture should not be one of them.
God bless you all with cancer and family members with cancer.
I beat Stage IV Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma this year so far, after 6 months of chemo. It worked for me so far. They gave me 80%, and said many people are cured after treatment. My cousin, age 55 beat it and it’s been gone for over ten years. I feel lucky that mine was not an organ cancer and that the drugs for Lymphoma have improved so much that it is not a death sentence any more. So don’t tell me chemo is always wrong. I am fit and healthy again.
@ Welldun, you are SO RIGHT. I know my family and husband took it much harder than I did.
I feel terrible for MD and CZJ, they are so in love and for only ten years when they should have another several decades. 🙁
Michael’s “people” are no doubt lying. He has not even had his 8 weeks of chemo and radiation. More like 5 or 6 !
Remember, Michael wished he could keep it all private ? Well, now he is.
surgery will be happening next. Privately. Very tragic.
Truth is his treatments did NOT work.
I couldn’t sleep at night if I sold magazines like that.
He’s a great actor, feisty and strong like his family and I hope he beats it. Then does Romancing the StoneS, and Wall Street 3 just for the heck of it.
Michael, Our hearts go out to you. You are truly a legend and wish you the very best in fighting this beast.