No pat answers for sick Swayze
When you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, any little medical problem gets magnified.
That’s why Patrick Swayze, who checked himself into a Los Angeles hospital last week for pneumonia, felt it was important to let the world know that his condition is improving.
Swayze, who at 56 is battling pancreatic cancer, told People magazine, “I am alive and plan on continuing to stay that way. … I am almost in the clear.”
Swayze, who stars in the new A&E series “The Beast,” says he checked into the hospital Jan. 9 because of a cough that he suspected was the result of an infection.
“I wanted to jump on it before it turned into a problem,” he said. “As soon as I got home, I called my doctor and then went straight to the hospital and was immediately put on antibiotics.”
In a recent television interview with Barbara Walters, Swayze said that his yearlong battle with cancer put him “through hell.”
He’s all heart, that Howie
Howie Mandel’s own medical emergency is over. The 53-year-old comedian is back on the set of his new hidden-camera show, “Howie Do It!” after being hospitalized in Toronto earlier this week with for an irregular heartbeat. Mandel says he’ll continue to take medication for his condition.
Hudson will sing, not cry
Jennifer Hudson will use the Super Bowl to make her public return following the slayings of her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. Hudson will sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 1.
Hudson hasn’t made a public appearance since her 57-year-old mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson; 29-year-old brother Jason Hudson; and 7-year-old nephew Julian King were slain in Chicago in October. Her estranged brother-in-law, William Balfour, has been charged in the killings.
Mommy to rapper: Get over it
Seems as if rapper Lil’ Kim is upset over her portrayal in the biopic “Notorious” – a topic we visited on Thursday. The mother of The Notorious B.I.G, Voletta Wallace, reacted with a shrug. In an interview on Monday, Wallace said, “This is not a Lil Kim movie. … If she’s disappointed and upset, that is her problem.”
Ozzy is his own worst enemy
Sharon Osbourne is the latest to collect damages from a British tabloid newspaper. The Sun also has apologized to Osbourne for a story that falsely accused her of overworking her rock star husband Ozzy Osbourne.
The paper had claimed in an October 2007 story that Osbourne was “driving her frail husband … to destruction.”
ESPN hires hard-named women
Did you know? Two of ESPN’s women “Sports Center” broadcasters are named Sage Steele and Hannah Storm.
The birthday bunch
Bassist Bob Bogle of The Ventures is 75. Singer Barbara Lynn is 67. Country singer Ronnie Milsap is 66. Country singer Jim Stafford is 65. Director John Carpenter is 61. Actress-dancer Debbie Allen is 59. Singer Sade is 50. Actor David Chokachi (“Baywatch”) is 41. Actor Richard T. Jones (“Judging Amy”) is 37. Supermodel Kate Moss is 35. Guitarist Nick Valensi of The Strokes is 28.