In honor of Milton Harrison
In 2008, Milton Harrison came down with pneumonia, and when his symptoms worsened he went to the emergency room in his hometown of Henderson. There, he learned he had a collapsed lung. And then doctors found a white mass. It was cancer.
“My heart hit the floor,” Milton says, “But then I thought, ‘Okay, let’s deal with it.’”
Milton and his wife Lucy chose UNC.
“My brother’s a UNC graduate and promised me it was a great place,” Milton says.
Dr. Nirmal Veeramachaneni operated on Milton and found that the cancer had not spread as much as suspected. The surgical team removed part of the lung instead of the entire organ. Today, Milton is on chemotherapy, a clinical trial for Avastin, available only at certain centers like UNC Lineberger.
And now he doesn’t have to take his brother’s word for UNC.
“The doctors and nurses treated me with respect and were always there for me,” he says. “I had a wonderful team.”
Milton is now spending as much time with his family as he can. He’s got seven kids, ten sisters, and three brothers. “I’ve got 14 beautiful grandkids and I’m thankful that with their help and lots of prayers and support from my family and my wife Lucy, I was able to pull through.”