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This news made me so happy. Kaiser and I have been pretty worried about Michael Douglas after he was diagnosed with stage four throat cancer in August of last year. Douglas, 66, had a walnut-sized tumor under his tongue, and his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones was furious at doctors who took too long to discover the problem. While his outlook seemed positive, and he was hopeful about his prognosis, just the sheer progression of his cancer made it sound grim. From what I understand, Stage 4 cancer is the most serious. Douglas told Matt Lauer that his tumor is gone now, and he thinks he’s beaten cancer.

In his first television interview since undergoing treatment for throat cancer, Michael Douglas tells TODAY’s Matt Lauer that his tumor is gone and he’s got his cancer beat.

“The odds are, with the tumor gone and what I know about this particular type of cancer, that I’ve got it beat,” Douglas said during an interview that will air Tuesday on TODAY. Douglas said that he still has to undergo monthly checks to be sure the cancer is gone, but he’s already quantifying how having the disease has changed him.

“It’s put a timeline on my life,” Douglas said. “I’m 66 now. You know, I’m fortunate I’ve got a mother who’s 88. She’ll kill me. She may be 87. My father’s 94. So, you know, I feel good about those genes. But it’s definitely a third act. And so you’re a little more conscious of your time in how you choose to spend it.”

As for how he’s spending his time now, Douglas is beginning to get back to a normal life. “I’m eating like a pig … I lost about 32 pounds. And I’ve put about 12 back,” Douglas said. Now that his chemotherapy and radiation treatments are done, Douglas has few restrictions on his day-to-day activities. He’s working out at the gym, though “they want to keep the cardio down because they want me to put some more weight on.”

Douglas also says that his experience with cancer has given his life more depth. “You know, maybe it has to do because of everything life threatening. So all of a sudden the affection from my family, from my friends, and from my fans hit me at a much deeper level than I would have ever imagined before. And it gave me a really new appreciation of just how valuable, how precious good friends are and family. And it’s not that I disregarded them before but there’s a much deeper feeling. And I’ve talked to other cancer survivors about this, that — that happens, that you just really, really appreciate what’s important in life.”

Catch more of the interview on TODAY Tuesday morning and the complete interview on Sunday’s “Dateline NBC.”

[From Todayshow.com]

There’s a follow-up article on the Today Show’s website that discusses how this type of cancer can recur and needs to be carefully monitored.

Douglas also explained that his mouth is dry after his salivary ducts were closed from the effects of the chemotherapy. (They’re expected to return to normal after a year.) He said that having a dry mouth affected his sleep and that he also suffers fatigue. Other than that, he says he’s doing well and sounds cautiously optimistic. When Lauer asked him about it he called the radiation and chemotherapy “lousy” though and said “I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

Douglas discussed the photographs that came out of him looking gaunt during his treatment, and said they lead his loved ones to worry. He thinks that his dad, Kirk Douglas, came and visited him for a week because of those pictures. As for the paparazzi, he was very matter-of-fact and reserved about how they stalked him while he was at his weakest. “I resent the amount of imposition on our children… there was sort of a macabre enjoyment of sort of watching me go down [healthwise] by the paparazzi.”

Douglas said that facing death helped him experience love and caring from others at a level he hadn’t before. The “affection from my family, my friends and from my fans hit me at a much deeper level than I would ever have imagined before.”

Congratulations to Douglas. He fought hard and it looks like he’s triumphed. He’s now preparing for his role as Liberace and says he’s getting his “fingers ready.” I’m so happy to see him looking healthy and ready to work again.