Patrick Swayze tried to keep the news of his cancer diagnosis from his mother so she could undergo eye surgery without any complications.
The late actor revealed all about his cancer battle in a memoir and audio book, The Time of My Life, in the months leading up to his death on 14 September (09).
And in one moving excerpt, he reveals he and brother Don decided not to tell their mum he was dying, so his fight wouldn't interfere with her own medical issues.
The actor explains, "She was having eye surgery the next day and was supposed to try to keep her eyes dry, no crying for a few weeks after the surgery."
But his plan to keep the bad news from his mother was ruined by tabloid journalists, who approached his mum for a comment on her son's diagnosis.
He adds, "Unfortunately, those morally bankrupt souls at the National Enquirer had other ideas... Someone in the medical field tipped them off and a National Enquirer reporter showed up at my mom's house about a week after my diagnosis.
"She opened the door to have a complete stranger ask, 'How do you feel about Patrick having pancreatic cancer?' And that's how she found out."