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"Michael Douglas is on the mend.\r\nAfter undergoing a grueling bout of chemotherapy and radiation last year to battle a tumor found in his throat, the 66-year-old actor delivers some happy news to Matt Lauer in an interview airing Tuesday on The Today Show (and on Dateline NBC Jan. 23).\r\n&amp;quot;I feel good, relieved. The tumor is gone,&amp;quot; says Douglas, who has two young kids (Carys, 7, and Dillon, 10) with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and a grown son, Cameron, from a previous marriage.\r\n\r\nExplains the Wall Street 2 star: &amp;quot;I think the odds are with the tumor gone and what I know about this particular type of cancer that I&amp;apos;ve got it beat.&amp;quot;\r\nHe&amp;apos;s not completely out of the woods, however, he cautions: &amp;quot;I have to check out on a monthly basis now to maintain.  I guess there&amp;apos;s not a total euphoria.  I&amp;apos;ll probably take a couple of months of getting checked out.  But it&amp;apos;s been a wild six-month ride.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nDouglas tells Lauer that he &amp;quot;lost about 32 pounds&amp;quot; during his battle. &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;m eating like a pig&amp;quot; and building up loss muscle mass via workouts, he says. &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;ve put about 12 [pounds] back.&amp;quot;\r\nBeating a life-threatening disease, he says, adds a &amp;quot;new depth&amp;quot; to his most important relationships.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;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,&amp;quot; he says.  &amp;quot;And it gave me a really new appreciation of just how valuable, how precious good friends are and family.  And it&amp;apos;s not that I disregarded them before but there&amp;apos;s a much deeper feeling.&amp;quot;\r\nHe continues: &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;ve talked to other cancer survivors about this...you just really, really appreciate what&amp;apos;s important in life.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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