Worth Fighting For: Love, Loss, and Moving Forward

Lisa Niemi Swayze

Jan 2012 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

From Patrick Swayze’s widow—the moving, New York Times bestselling account of grief, loss, caregiving, and moving on, with touching stories from their final months together.

When Lisa Niemi first exchanged vows with Patrick Swayze, she promised to be with her husband “till death do us part.” But how many couples stop and think about what that truly means?

Worth Fighting For is both a candid tribute to a marriage and a celebration of the healing power that each day holds, even in the most difficult of circumstances. Lisa shares the details of Patrick’s twenty-one-month battle with Stage IV pancreatic cancer, and she describes his last days, when she simply tried to keep him comfortable. She writes with heartbreaking honesty about her grief in the aftermath of his death and openly discusses the challenges that the years without him have posed. Her story is an emotionally honest and unflinching depiction of loss, but it is also a hopeful and life-affirming exploration of the power of the human spirit. “I tell you, I am a different person now,” she writes, “one who has been thrown into the fire and forged.”

Ratings and reviews

The Time of My Life by Patrick far exceeds this book. Is it just me or was Lisa putting too much of his life out there in such a devastating time? Also, she goes about it to be the heroine, the caretaker, the only one who did anything and at the same time she is belittling him, bringing up the "list" of things she holds against him in prior years. Lisa makes fun of his breath, are you kidding me? It is without a doubt he loved her, but to what extent did she finally love him as he deserved? Only in the end.

Lisa, love you and Patrick, such a heartfelt story of love and lost. Such a horrible lost. You and Patrick will remain in my heart and prayers always!!!

Sad and heartfelt. I cried during parts. I have always been a huge fan of Patrick Swayze.

About the author

Lisa Niemi Swayze is the coauthor of The Time of My Life, which she wrote with her late husband, Patrick Swayze. She wrote, directed, and produced the film One Last Dance in 2004. She has held many film, television, and Broadway roles and in addition, she wrote, directed, and starred in the play Without a Word with her husband, garnering six Drama Critics Awards.