NEW YORK (October 28, 2009)--Patrick Swayze's widow told a crowd near Los Angeles that the loss of her husband of 34 years has left her with sadness "on a cellular level."

Lisa Niemi, who made her first public comments Tuesday since Swayze's death last month from pancreatic cancer, told attendees at a conference that her pain "made all the sadness and grief previous to that look like an intellectual concept."

Although she cared for her husband during his 22-month battle with the disease, Niemi said grappling with the 57-year-old "Dirty Dancing" star's death was still "an animal all its own."

Niemi spoke to several thousand women gathered Tuesday for the annual nonpartisan Women's Conference in Long Beach, Calif.