As a devoted family man who also made millions across the country smile, Michael Landon put his own health on the back burner. His daughter, Leslie Landon Matthews, told Fox News Digital how growing up, the 'Little House on the Prairie' star had a stubborn streak when it came to prioritizing his check-ups. 'The one thing that I know was part of my dad’s personality was his stubbornness,' the former actress explained.
Little House’ star Michael Landon was stubborn about his health: daughter According to PanCAN, pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. It has a five-year survival rate of 13%. It noted that there’s no standard early detection test and few effective treatment options.
Pancreatic cancer does carry a hereditary aspect to it,' said Landon Matthews. 'For other people out there who’ve had family members with pancreatic cancer, there are some pre-screening tests that can be done now. And has all taken the blood test. . . . Our brother Chris, in his early 40s, was diagnosed with kidney cancer. That came as a big surprise. And thank God he survived that. He gets tested regularly. But you need to be proactive about your health and not put it off.
Before losing her father, Landon Matthews made a 'goodbye book' for the star. All of the children gathered together and presented it to him. 'Each of us had a couple of pages, and we had put on a beautiful plexiglass cover,' Landon Matthews recalled. 'And the cover of it said ‘Dad’ . . . it was all of our little heads making up the letters.