What a kick in the head.

Considered to be among Hollywood’s best actors, Patrick Swayze - the star of such movies as Dirty Dancing, Ghost and Red Dawn is now dealing with one of the most difficult cancers to cure - cancer of the pancreas.

According to MSNBC:

Patrick Swayze’s doctor is “optimistic” about his prognosis for battling pancreatic cancer, and the “Dirty Dancing” actor’s upcoming cable pilot is still in contention to become a series.

With the writer’s strike over, the A&E pilot “The Beast,” starring Swayze as an unorthodox FBI agent, is being considered to be turned into a series by the cable network. If that happens, the “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost” star hopes to continue to be part of the show, his representative Annett Wolf told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

I want to be optimistic, too, mainly because I really love this guy as an actor.  I can’t think of a single picture he’s appeared in over the years that has ever been a crappy movie.

But when the National Enquirer goes on record saying it’s sources have learned, “doctors have given Patrick Swayze five weeks to live after pancreatic cancer has spread to other organs,” it’s tough to discount that rag’s sources.

The Enquirer turns out to be right more times than it’s wrong in its blatherings. Remember, there’s enough cash backing that publication to get anybody close to a celeb’s personal situation to spill his or her guts.

The National Cancer Institute estimates there will be 37,680 new cases of pancreatic cancer in 2008 with 34,290 deaths in the U.S.; only five percent of patients live more than five years after being diagnosed.

I know people in my own circle of friends who’ve had pancreatic cancer. None of them are alive today.

I’m hoping that Patrick will beat the odds on this cancer and walk away as the shining star he is.