The Ghost star lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in September (09), less than two years after doctors discovered he was suffering from the deadly illness.

Niemi admits her late husband was mortified when he heard the bad news, because he knew he had little chance of surviving the aggressive cancer.

She tells U.S. talk show host Larry King, "He was having some indigestion problems and then noticed he had some jaundice. And we immediately got him in (to see a doctor). And everything just kind of snowballed from there. I didn't know a lot about pancreatic cancer at that point, but he did. And when he got that diagnosis, the first thing he said (was), 'I'm a dead man.'

"It's a really tough, tough, merciless disease, especially, you know, in the advanced stages, which he was diagnosed. For us, every day, every week was a supreme victory."

While the actor's younger brother, Donny Swayze, adds, "I was there when he found out that it had, indeed, metastasized to the liver, which, as you know, that's even more of a death sentence. I was looking in my big brother's eyes and he didn't even flinch. I don't know what was going through his mind, but after about 15 seconds, his eyes narrowed and he said, 'Well, it's time to jam. It's time to get busy.'"