Michael Douglas: Cancer battle made me appreciate my family

Michael Douglas says battling cancer has made him appreciate his family much more. The actor — who has two children, Dylan, 10, and seven-year-old Carys, with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, and grown-up son Cameron from his first marriage — recently revealed that the tumor in his throat has gone.

“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,” he said.

“And it gave me a really new appreciation of just how valuable, how precious good friends are and family. There’s a much deeper feeling. And I’ve talked to other cancer survivors about this, that – that happens, that you just really, really appreciate what’s important in life.”

Douglas, 66, has previously admitted he has big plans for when he beats cancer.

“Once we’re through this, Catherine and I are talking about taking the kids out of school for a year and traveling around the world — Phuket and Vietnam; we’d love to take the family down to New Zealand and spend some time in South Africa,” he said in October.

“We’re still trying to figure out what age you can get away with taking the kids away from their friends and not have them hate you for it.

“From now on I’m going to spend all my efforts on the people I’m closest to. When you’re younger you are so self-involved, self-obsessed. As you get older, all of a sudden, you begin to appreciate relationships, be understanding about the foibles of life, more forgiving — and you’ve got more time for the kids. It makes for a much happier marriage and family environment.”

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