Patrick Swayze is a true fighter. Less than a year after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the actor returned on the film set and offered his first interview since receiving medical treatment for the disease.

He told the New York Times that his job had brightened him up throughout the difficult period he had gone through during the past months, explaining that acting helped him get over rumors speculating that he was dying.

The 56-year-old actor is working 12-hour days on the film set of police drama “The Beast,” whose filming began this summer in Chicago. “I do find myself, at the end of the day, riding home sort of catching myself with a smile on my face,” he told the newspaper, adding that he felt very proud of his work.

Patrick Swayze described chemotherapy as “hell on wheels” but the treatment seems to have brought him back on his feet. Following a disturbing weight loss in his battle with cancer, the actor has regained 20 pounds thanks to “muscle-building shakes,” according to the New York Times.

The “Dirty Dancing” star has only missed a day and a half of filming for “The Beast” up to now, as he is determined to do things right, benefiting from the support of his wife, Lisa Niemi, whom he credits for his recovering condition.

He has already filmed half of the series’ 12-episode line-up and said that he had made plans for the future, which include things he has never done so far and wishes to experience.

In addition, Patrick Swayze’s doctor, George Fisher, an associate professor of teaching at Stanford University Cancer Center, is optimistic with regard to the actor’s condition.

“Patrick has a very limited amount of disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far. All of the reports stating the timeframe of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue,” George Fisher said in a statement.