it never occurred to me that i was going to die. going to beat this. it's a word we all hope never to hear. >> i told you i had cancer. what did you think? >> that's something that you just, out of the blue, cannot absorb. >> it's a word that interrupted my lucky life. cancer was not on my calendar. >> i knew you were in for a rough ride. >> but until i took that ride, i had no idea how rough. by the time we got down to the ambulance, i think i was hallucinating. i've learned a lot along the way that might help you about cancer. >> cancer is evil destruction. but cancer can be a gift as well. >> about doctors. >> don't be afraid to ask questions. >> and about much bigger issues,

as well. the importance of family. >> i'm really honored to play the role i did, but i can't say it didn't take a lot out of me. >> and the uncertainty of life. >> this is the year that archer was born. and this is the time we celebrate. this is when we recognize that with loss comes gain. >> a very personal story from me tonight. lessons from a lucky life interrupted. >> good evening. i'm tom brokaw in my home away from home, the nbc news studios. i've reported so many stories from here. tonight, my story. it's about the most pernicious disease known to medicine, cancer. in one form or another it touches almost every family in this country. i was luckier than most because i have resources many do not. still, it was much tougher than

i anticipated. it tested me, but taught me lessons that may help your family. and although it was capable of taking me away from those i hold most dear, in the end it brought us closer. >> i've seen a lot of seasons change in my time. but as i like to say, more sunny days than maybe i deserve. it's been a very lucky life. at our home outside of new york city these past few weeks i saw the daffodils and forsythia bloom again, and the ice melt on the pond out back. and more important than anything else, i saw this gang, my grandchildren, my family. spring, renewal, had a new meaning. first, meet archer, my only grandson, and his mom, my youngest daughter, sarah.

i can tell you that this is a far different season than that summer two years ago when i first learned i had cancer. multiple myeloma. bone and blood. sarah, when did you realize that i might've been sicker than you thought? >> oh, when we were in montana. and you were having a lot of back pain. and you had asked to get a kiss from archer. and we leaned down to give you a kiss, and your body just convulsed. you were in -- your body became paralyzed. and i thought, "something is seriously, seriously wrong." i think it was such a pivotal moment for all of us. all of the sudden, recognizing that, no, life is so finite. and you might be gone. >> i had no idea where my cancer would take me, how rough it would become, what i would learn about cancer, mortality, family, and modern medicine. in my new book, "a lucky life,

interrupted," i recount what happened next and hope to offer some guidance to other families who face cancer. >> it brought out the worst and the best amongst your daughters. and it was also the time that we became that much closer. >> my cancer journey began in summer, in the hot and humid summer of 2013. it had already been a big year, biking in south america, fishing in montana. i was still having the time of my life. at my side, meredith. we've been together more than half a century. we've known each other since we were 15. and things have gone extremely well. you once told your sister you married me, in part, because you knew that we would have an interesting life. >> yeah. i also told her we'd never have any money. and i said, "and i don't care, because i know it's going to be a very exciting and interesting life." >> and it was still interesting.

i was 73, a retired anchorman who was still on the job reporting stories around the world. i went to africa with meredith for the "today" show. in malawi, she had an enterprising project teaching local women how to produce and sell tomato sauce. and i was dealing with a pesky backache. i had trouble just trying to pick something up. for weeks on end the pain wouldn't go away. the orthopedists i saw thought it might be arthritis or a minor spinal problem and, let's just admit it, old age kicking in. but longtime friends noticed something was wrong. doug campbell manages our montana ranch. >> he seemed like he had aged quickly in a short amount of time and he quit doing his morning swims and, you know, was slowing down, i guess you could say. >> then in august, i flew to rochester, minnesota. i'm a board member at the mayo clinic, and we had a meeting.

it was also time for a check up with my doctor, andrew majka. dr. majka, when i came to you and said, "i've got back pain," and the orthopedist said, "you've just got to do more stretching," you wanted to do a blood test, even though i'd had one just nine months earlier. what caused some suspicion in your mind? >> you're not one to complain. 90% of back pain gets better in a month. and i said it just raised a flag there was -- could there be something else going on that was causing you to have some persistent discomfort? could there be infection? inflammation? disc infection? this type of thing. so that's what made me do some more lab work. >> the lab work showed something unexpected and sinister. >> and your white blood cell count had come back. it was low, and i'm like, "there's something. there's something going on with your bone marrow." >> dr. majka, an internist, called in a mayo clinic colleague, a renowned hematologist. as i was walking across the pedestrian bridge in downtown rochester for the appointment i

had no idea that dr. morie gertz was about to surprise me with a stunning development. when you diagnosed me, and it was very matter of fact. you looked at me and said, "you have a malignancy, it's called multiple myeloma." when i've repeated that story to others, they said, "that's how he told you?" is that how you tell people? is that the dr. gertz way? >> there's no one way. in your situation, you were kind of planning to come to mayo clinic for the day and then leave. and somehow, i needed to impart the gravity of the situation. >> dr. majka was also there. >> i just saw your vulnerability, your humanity. and how do i deal with that? i mean, you got hit with a cruise missile with multiple warheads. looking at you, you were stunned. >> walking back to my hotel room, i was trying to cope. i was one of the 25,000 people to have been diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2013. it's a blood cancer that starts in the plasma cells in bone marrow and can cause severe bone

damage. >> so it is a blood disorder, a bone marrow disorder, but over 70% of patients present because of bone pain, whether it's in the spine or in the ribs or in the extremities. >> it's incurable, but it is treatable. statistically, i had maybe eight years. >> i knew you were in for a rough ride. your family wasn't with you to sit down and say, "holy smokes. what's happened? what's going on here? what does this mean?" >> i couldn't tell meredith. she was back at our ranch in montana. i decided to wait until i flew back the next day. she picked me up at the airport. we made small talk the whole way. but when we arrived at the ranch i brought her to the bedroom. and we were sitting on the edge of the bed, about 12:30 in the morning. i made a big drink, and i told you i had cancer. what did you think? >> i didn't believe you. i mean, that's something that you just, out of the blue, cannot absorb in one take. >> were you frightened? >> well, initially, i think i

was. i needed to know more. i didn't panic. i didn't think, "this is the end of the world." i just needed to know more, because i really didn't understand what we were dealing with. >> and frankly, neither did i. i wasn't sure what the treatment would be yet, and i didn't know how completely cancer would take over my life. the next day, i made one of the dumbest decisions ever. and i paid a price. la vie est belle the eau de parfum, lancôme. receive a free gift. only at macy's, your fragrance destination.

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♪ summer, 2013. i was at my ranch in montana. just four days earlier, i had been diagnosed with a blood cancer called multiple myeloma, but i was keeping it a secret, just between meredith and me. i was determined to go on with my life at full force, not knowing how unrealistic that would be. yeah, i did a dumb thing. i get up, and i feel not too bad, so i'm gonna go fishing. and i was gonna drive 150 miles across montana, meet some friends, and fish. at a friend's stream, a half hour into the day, i had to crawl out of the water and to a nearby cabin porch. and curled up, in agonizing pain. and, i -- lay there until another friend of mine came along and said, "my god, what's going on?"

a fishing buddy drove with me for three hours back to our ranch. i was in bed for two days, immobilized by pain. meredith was on the phone to my doctor at the mayo clinic, getting prescriptions called in. and he was throwing everything he had at me, in terms of pain killers, and nothing was working. >> nothing, no. so at a certain point, i -- you know, i said we have to get out of this remote house in montana and back to the mayo clinic where they could probably find out what the source of the pain was and how to deal with it. >> meredith called for help and set up a medevac flight to the mayo clinic, more than a thousand miles away. two cowboy emt's came out from livingston to rush me to the medevac flight. emt nathan wulf. >> we found him up in his bedroom in excruciating pain. >> they loaded me into a portable chair, and down a narrow staircase in our little

ranch house. >> it was a tremendous feat just to get him into the chair to move him down - - downstairs. >> and i thought, "where in the world is this gonna end up?" and by the time we got down to the ambulance, i think i was kind of hallucinating. i don't think i was checked in at that point. >> i think that you were in so much pain that it's hard to even recall, for you, what that was like, i think. >> when the emt's arrived to carry me out for that ride to the airport, my daughter sarah confronted her mother. >> and i said "tell me right now what's happening to dad. i need to know right now." and she said, "well, he has multiple myeloma." sarah's thought immediately of archer. >> it was awful, especially since he was only six months. and i was mad, too. i thought, "you only had six months with him." i wanted, i wanted to envision you playing baseball with him and fly fishing and not knowing if that was ever gonna happen. >> the emt's got me into the

ambulance and drove, as carefully as possible, 60 miles, much of it down a winding, bouncing road to the airport. >> at any point in time, if we would move or if we'd hit any the smallest bumps in the road, it would reproduce some pretty excruciating pain. >> when we finally arrived, a small private jet took meredith and me on the three hour flight. when i was brought into the mayo clinic, i was in pain and confused. nurse manager allison meisheid says that's normal. >> when a patient first comes in, it's an absolute tornado of chaos, of emotion, of agony and frustration for them. >> the mayo doctors found a more effective combination of pain medications. i had two compression fractures in my lower back, caused by the multiple myeloma, and a hole in my right pelvis. the clock was ticking. doctors had to attack the myeloma cells that were destroying my blood and my bones. >> cancer is -- evil destruction. cancer is unpredictable, but

cancer can be a gift as well. >> that's because it can bring a family even closer. my oldest daughter, jennifer, an emergency room doctor in san francisco, flew out to rochester to act as an interpreter of medical jargon, my all-around patient advocate, and yes, her father's keeper. >> i mean, i've never been afraid of asserting myself. >> putting it mildly. >> but i knew that at this moment in time you were going to listen to me and that you weren't going to call the shots. >> my learning curve started right here. i learned lessons from jennifer and my family that everyone with cancer needs to know. first, supportive family members are crucial. if you don't have a family, ask a close friend to be at your side. second, if at all possible, get a friend or family member with a medical background to be your advocate. i was very lucky. i had a daughter who was a doctor.

one of your famous lines to me had always been, "you know, dad, we've never really had anything go wrong in our family. i wonder if we could handle it." did you have some doubt about whether we could handle it? >> no. absolutely not. i knew that we would rally to whatever challenge presented itself, but we had not had a lot of practice. >> but that was about to change. keeping you fresher with every move. motionsense. protection to keep you moving. degree. it won't let you down.

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diagnosed with multiple myeloma. now i needed to meet the doctor who would be in charge of my ongoing treatment at home in new york. i knew my cancer couldn't be cured, but i was confident it could be brought into remission. it began to dawn on me that this was going to be a long, hard road ahead. i would be going on chemotherapy, take pain medication and get regular tests that would show if the cancer was advancing or in retreat. it never occurred to me that i was going to die. me being me of course i'm gonna beat this. no question. i'll get through this somehow. that's unrealistic in some ways. i was sent to memorial sloan kettering cancer center in new york and became the patient of a young, highly regarded multiple myeloma expert, dr. heather landau. she and my daughter jennifer quickly bonded. i'm not fishing for anything here. we want honest answers but what

kind of a patient was i? >> i think you were challenging at first, because it was difficult to get a sense of where you really were. >> it seems i, thomas brokaw, patient #02-06-40, was stoic too stoic about the pain i was in at sloan kettering dr landau told me it actually helps if patients speak up about their pain and how sick they feel. >> complain, complain, complain. we can provide -- pain medicine and pain management. it's really challenging if we don't know when -- when things get bad. >> and that autumn was unexpectedly tough. i was taking 17 pills a day at this point including two daily doses of revlimid, a powerful chemotherapy derived from the notorious drug from the 1960's called thalidomide. on the "today show," when they

aired meredith's story about malawi and the tomato program, i was weak and still in pain. i had been working on a documentary on the 50th anniversary of jfk's assassination. and when i went on david letterman's program to promote it, i had to practice walking out on stage and sitting down wasn't much easier. on the daily show, i asked to be pre-seated. somehow, jon stewart says, i was able to get away with it without him knowing just how sick i was. >> he did mention that his back was hurting. he mentioned you know that he might have a little more difficulty and i assumed he may be pulled a muscle or something like lifting a horse or whatever he does out in montana. >> when the story came out, i told him i didn't want to bother him with my difficulties. >> the general discussion was, i let him know in my faith, we like to let people know even if it's just a little gas, a little

heartburn, we still like to talk about it, just get it out in the open. >> we were trying to keep it from as many people as possible. and that was not easy. >> no. no, not easy because you find yourself dissembling. it's not -- that we were telling untruths. it's just that we really weren't telling the truth. >> i worried that if i went public i would be all over the internet, tom brokaw, cancer victim. and like most cancer patients i didn't want my illness to define me. winter, 2013-2014. as the holiday season descended on new york. four months had passed since my diagnosis and then i did a face-plant on the flagstone patio outside our home. >> there you were, carrying in groceries slipped on the ice. had what could've been a disastrous fall, given that fragility of your bones.

banged up your face. >> patient 02-06-40's cancer experience was turning into a numbers game. the gash above my eye was four inches in deep and i got 18 stitches to close it. and the disease was an unwelcome companion, 24-7. the chemo nurses i saw at memorial sloan kettering became my friends. two of them, katie hambright and mary shannon mcguiness, understood where i was coming from. >> i realize that my day ends and your day never ends with cancer. you go home with it. you're probably constantly thinking about it. whereas i go home and i can go for a run or do something with my friends and try to get it off my mind, where you guys live and breathe it every single day. >> as the snow fell outside our apartment overlooking central park the view from my living room changed, cancer got in the way. >> i used to love to go in there and have a fire, and have a drink, and pick off a history

book. and then when i was diagnosed, i'd go in there, and this screen would come down. and the screen would be cancer. and that's how i saw the world, was through the prism of cancer. and until you get it, you can't understand that. that winter, my family was experiencing what millions of other families are going through every day dealing with the fear, anxiety, the daily realities of a cancer fight some big, some small, all pervasive. these are the granddaughters i affectionately call "the hooligans" charlotte and vivian. they call me "tom." they're my middle daughter andrea, and her husband charles' kids and they were famous in our family for their volume. >> you remember what vivian said the next time that she came? >> yeah, she said, "tom, we're gonna keep the decibels down." she did. >> what's a lesson for other families in what we've been through, do you think? >> i think you just have to really value everybody's time

together, you know. and just realize that every day counts. and you have to cut everybody a little bit of slack on stuff that you think is really important. and then when something really important happens, the other stuff isn't so important. >> for meredith and me, the smaller things in life became much more important. dinner became a ceremony for us. i mean, that was the one thing we had to look forward to. and i got cancer just in time for the golden age of television. so we had a lot of things, netflix and everything, hbo, "downton abbey." >> i've never watched so many sporting events in my life, really, i mean, baseball, football, basketball. >> as i trudged through the city. patriots quarterback tom brady was featured on a bus shelter ad for ugg boots. the picture of health, at the top of his game. i'd look up, utter an obscenity, and move on, energized in a way. the chemo nurses understood that silent anger as well. >> i always tell patients to

take each day one at a time. each day is different and each day is a battle. but just to continue with that hope to get through the bad days. >> i'd had a lot of them which led to an unexpected surgery. we need coffee. got it right here. cups? 12 ounce, 8 ounce, recyclable... creamers? sweeteners? stirrers? filters? creamers, sweeteners stirrers, filters, k-cups... hazelnut? french vanilla? french roast? dark? light? medium? bold? extra bold. and decaf. why would you say that? why would you say that? why would you say that? no reason. make on-budget happen. make caffeinated happen. staples. make more happen.

winter, 2014. it seemed to never end. and neither did my misery. it had been five months since my cancer diagnosis and i just felt i wasn't getting any better. >> well, i had to get up in the morning and look in the mirror and think, you know, i was not happy about my condition. cancer it's just hard to describe. it's the body's war on itself. and the best oncologists i know all say the same thing. it's medicine's greatest enemy, because everything they throw at it, it's, you know -- it figures a way to get around it in some fashion. >> i had been talking to dr. ken anderson of dana farber cancer center in boston, he agreed to consult with my medical team by phone. a world renowned expert in multiple myeloma, he recommended we add another thalidomide offshoot to my regimen -- a drug called velcade.

one of the many recent advances in the treatment of this disease. >> i think the progress that has already happened in myeloma has been palpable. we have 11 new treatments in the last ten to 15 years, and people are living three to four times longer than they were just a short time ago. >> dr. anderson had treated another high-profile myeloma patient -- the first woman nominated by a major party for vice president, geraldine ferraro. she survived for thirteen years after her diagnosis, beating the odds at that time as a patient. i began to think about other myeloma patients i had known -- frank reynolds of abc news, a predecessor on the "today show," frank mcgee of nbc news, the actor peter boyle. but multiple myeloma seems to strike some groups more than others. especially african americans. >> 115 over 76. >> in 2007, nbc news reported on the tragic story of pro football's elijah alexander, who

played for the oakland raiders and tampa bay buccaneers. after he was diagnosed he started a foundation, tackle myeloma. his wife, kimberly. >> he was very young. he was only 35. and at the time they found it, he actually was at the worst stage. with eli, he didn't have back pain. his pain came from his feet. >> in the feet? >> right. >> kimberly had to take on being more than just a wife and mother of their two young boys. you were their nurse. you were the pep leader, you know, keeping him going. it was a big learning curve, wasn't it? >> very. i mean, you have to be not only supportive of the patient and keep their spirits lifted, but you also have to be realistic about what the outcome may be, because there are so many unknowns when it comes to the disease. >> elijah alexander went through a grueling stem cell transplant, but he died after a courageous five-year fight, and he was just 39.

for a time i thought i'd have to have a stem cell transplant but, i was able to be treated effectively with drugs alone. and every time i'd be feeling low, i'd think of people like kathy giusti. >> i was told, "you have three years to live." there were no ifs, ands or buts about that. there weren't any drugs in the pipeline. >> she is a commander in the fight against multiple myeloma. she was diagnosed at age 37, had a bone marrow transplant, and personally started the multiple myeloma research foundation. she has now survived 19 years. >> what i say to everybody now is a diagnosis in 1996 was definitely not lucky. a diagnosis today in a transformative time, it's not lucky, but it's a lot luckier. >> almost fifty percent of the advances in myeloma treatment have happened in the past five years. in fact in many cancers, the advances have been dramatic. i did learn some big lessons that winter.

a patient and family have to be active partners in the care, ensuring the medical team is in constant contact with one another. case in point, look at these pictures of my spine. in january, 2014, i was put under general anesthesia while the doctors shored up fractures with a cement injected through a needle. somehow a bone specialist earlier missed the fact that i had all of these fractures. the procedure would not have been as complicated if they had been discovered sooner and maybe the fact i kept minimizing my pain made it partly my fault. my neuroradiologist, dr. eric lis, saved the day after he was alerted by meredith. >> but you said your pain was two out of 10. >> yeah. [ laughter ] >> and your wife, meredith's eyes were just rolling. >> yeah. >> and you're like, "well, it's not so bad. i'm doin' this." and i'm sayin' to myself, "my goodness. i should do somethin'." >> so it's better -- it's better for a patient to take it up rather than down.

>> absolutely. i kind of want to know that. >> by the end of january i was starting to recover from that procedure. my daughter andrea teased me i wasn't the same guy i used to be. >> i stood up, and you stood up, and you didn't get very far, and i thought, "what happened?" >> i lost two inches when they repaired my spine. that was unexpected. >> you're still the big man of the house, dad. don't worry about it. >> but soon i had an unrelated, and upsetting setback. a common illness became a crisis.

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winding down, i continued to wonder. what would the next day bring? or the next medical test? for six months, my cancer diagnosis did become public. >> veteran newsman tom brokaw revealed tuesday that he is battling cancer. the outpouring of concern was overwhelming and moving. but when the word finally did get out, it reminded me of how little even well-meaning people really understand. >> one of the lessons that i learned, and which i'm trying to convey with my book and when i talk about it is that, if you have a friend who has cancer, you're sympathetic. you really don't know what's going on with cancer until it enters your body and becomes part of your family. and only then can you be empathetic that you understand what it is that you are going through. >> i think you're so right. i think that the only way to really know what it's like to have cancer is actually to have it yourself. a week after the news, i made a cross-country trip to los

angeles. >> that's the thing, is you go to that place in your life where you have to deal with medical issues and you just don't know what to do. >> i continued to fight fatigue. but spending time with angelina jolie helped. and i got to meet the legendary athlete and world war two p.o.w. louis zamperini, of "unbroken." >> no matter what the situation is, i've learned how to be content. i've learned how to handle it. >> i am no louis zamperini. but i did tell him i shared his determination. and then, as spring finally arrived, another big setback. in early april, i caught the flu, which can be a fatal complication for multiple myeloma patients. because the immune system is so weak. i was hospitalized for three days of intensive treatment. once again, patient 2-6-40 was in the building. and when you spend a lot of time in hospitals, you think about the toll cancer takes on families. physically, emotionally, financially.

>> look, i had resources. i had financial resources. but i've been thinking a lot about people who live out in the middle of the country, and they've got a modest healthcare plan. something like this hits and i don't know where they go and how they have the rest of their life. is that wrong? >> no. i -- i think this turns your world upside-down. all of a sudden your husband has to take off work to take you to chemotherapy appointments. your children are now providing care for you. and these are all dollars. dollars that are not accounted for by insurance companies necessarily. >> and our family had other crises to manage. it was especially stressful for jennifer, the doctor. >> your husband's mother, your mother-in-law, died of pancreatic cancer. my younger brother, bill, who was a favorite uncle of yours, you figured out that he was in dementia and headed for alzheimer's. and you had to kind of manage

his case and keep your eye on me. were there times when you went home at night just looked in the mirror and said, "i can't keep doing this." >> i'm gonna try not to get teary now. yeah, that was, that was an -- an incredibly difficult year for me. i'm really honored i played the role i did for each and every one of you. but i can't say that it didn't take -- a lot out of me. and that's another lesson that i've learned. our caretakers need care, as well. if you know one, reach out to them. be there for them. and i'm not just talking about caring for cancer patients. as our population ages, there are millions of american caregivers at the breaking point. >> as people get older and more infirm, you know, there's a domino effect in the immediate family circle for the caregiver. and i think it's time we start talking about the impact on the caregiver. >> so has my illness, in any

way, changed your life? >> completely. i think seeing you really sick, you're still formidable in my eyes and you still have very much of an alpha disposition but i recognize that you are older, you know. and that i no longer can be your little girl, that i now need to take on the role as an adult woman who's gonna take care of her dad. i'm no longer the little girl. by spring of last year, i was getting some unexpected honors. nbc news named their new los angeles bureau the brokaw news center. >> thank you all very much. >> i wondered, laughing, did they know something about my condition that i didn't? not long afterward i had a major evaluation at memorial sloan kettering. was the treatment effective? or was the cancer winning?

all doctors know cancer is medicine's most ferocious enemy. >> it's like, "wow, this drug really works." all of a sudden there's resistance and mutations. it's almost like it's -- it's kind of, like, alive. it's almost, like -- like, some sort of -- you know, i don't wanna say alien, but somethin' -- somethin' -- >> beast. >> -- terrible. yeah, absolutely. that has its own agenda. i had been on a very aggressive treatment plan, including the drugs revlimid, velcade, and dexamethasone. i finally got the word that my numbers were looking good. did that mean what i thought it meant? ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ before i had the shooting, burning, pins-and-needles of diabetic nerve pain, these feet grew up in a family of boys... married my high school sweetheart... and pursued a degree in education. but i couldn't bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. so i talked to my doctor and she prescribed

lyrica. nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is fda-approved to treat this pain. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new, or worsening depression or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. now i have less diabetic nerve pain. and i love helping first graders put their best foot forward. ask your doctor about lyrica.

as spring turned into summer last year, i was having another setback in my fight against i had severe bronchitis. it looked like i might have to miss the 70th anniversary of d-day in france. but after a military-like assault with antibiotics, i was

finally cleared to go. normandy. put things in perspective. around here, i could never complain about what i was going through, or about growing old. so many here were never given the chance. d-day veteran, frank devita. >> you know there's a fallacy. people think that when a man is dying, they don't ask for god, the last word that they say before they die is mama. >> i was emotionally exhausted by the end of that week in normandy, but i wouldn't have been anywhere else. as summer arrived however, i still wasn't feeling up to par. jennifer got in touch with my main doctor, heather landau. so what were you telling her about me? i mean, i need to know these things. >> heather was looking at your numbers, they all looked really good. but you yourself were still very

fatigued and i think really dealing with way more pain than you should've been. and i felt it was important to communicate that to heather. >> dr. landau and the rest of my team adjusted my regimen and i started to regain some strength. but it had been nearly a year since my diagnosis. i asked dr. majka if maybe all my doctors could've been a little more realistic. a lot of the specialists said, you know, "you're gonna be up and around nine months, ten months, you're gonna be back on your feet." wasn't true. >> that's the toughest part of what we deal with is the uncertainty of how's someone going to do. we want hope, but we also need the reality of what's going on. >> another frustration i heard about from many other cancer patients, that they're alone, lost, and no one is around to coordinate their treatment. investigative journalist steven brill, who wrote the book, "america's bitter pill," told me it's a very common complaint. >> there's no general contractor, if you will. you're shunted from place to

place. especially if you don't live in a place where there's the specialist, so you have to go from where you live to the specialist and back again. all of that on top of the fact that you have cancer. >> it was ten months since my diagnosis. i was feeling stronger, in anticipation of a visit to my past. how are you? nice to see you again. it was a unique reunion at the majestic fort randall dam on the missouri river in south dakota. right after world war ii, the government built pickstown to house the workers who built the dam and their families. >> this is my best friend. >> following the depression and the war, this was a godsend. america was on the move again. people who came here were really products of the depression first and then the war. they were the people that i call the greatest generation. by fall, after living with multiple myeloma for more than a year, i was able to step up the pace. i went to berlin for the 25th

anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall. i was a little taken aback when i saw what 25 years can do. all the while, however, i had that nagging concern -- what if this cancer is advancing? and i had that nagging ever-present back ache. what i've asked for is just one great day where i'm pain free since the diagnosis. i don't think i've had one. >> he has lent his voice to our nation's heroes. >> in fall, an unexpected singular honor -- the presidential medal of freedom from president obama. it was a memorable moment, but i reminded my nbc colleagues past and present that it was their award just as much as it was mine. i'm just the face out front, but there's an extraordinary army behind me. and then, just as another long

winter set in, i received some good news. at memorial sloan kettering, dr. landau informed me i was finally --finally -- in remission. i am not cured, and i'm still getting chemo treatments for maintenance, but this is a welcome step. >> when patients go into remission then i think it's great to be able to offer patients like yourself chemotherapy plus maintenance, which has been shown to provide long-term overall survival benefit. >> i am now doing physical therapy for my back and spine. i've started to ride bikes again. but i'm taking it slowly. and what i've learned about managing personal health care crises could fill a book. >> first of all, don't be afraid to ask questions. >> i would say, "make sure you're getting to a doctor that sees a high number of patients with your specific type of cancer. make sure you get a second opinion." >> dr. ken anderson at dana farber showed me around his

lab. >> and we can understand which drugs or which combinations can actually make a difference. >> this is just one of the many places where impressive advances are being made in all types of cancer treatment. immunotherapy is one of the most promising developments. >> what's so hopeful about immunotherapy is you are using the patient's own defense to fight their cancer. you are giving them an antibody or a vaccine or revving their immune system, those fighter cells, so that it will attack that cancer in a really early or strong way. that's a home run for patients. and this patient had a home field advantage. this journey has been difficult but rewarding in so many ways. our already close family, even closer. >> every day with the grandchildren more enjoyable.

my family was with me every step of the way. >> i saw you behaving with a lot of grace throughout that year. you just powered through. and i'll never forget that. >> when things were really not going well for me. my brother, my brother was dying of alzheimers and i said, "this has been a terrible year." and what did you say? >> i said, "this is the year that archer was born. and this is the time we celebrate, that this is when we recognize that with loss comes gain." >> i had a very hard time seeing you, as you were struggling with all of this, in the beginning. it was hard, just because it would've been hard for you to see me in the same position. i know that. so, fortunately, we've come a long way. >> and now patient number

02-06-40 is cherishing his 75th springtime, hoping for many more sunny days, more good news than bad. and above all, family. >> one final word tonight. if you'd like to find out more about multiple myeloma and other cancers visit our website at datelinenbc.com. that's all for "dateline" tonight. thanks so much for watching this very personal story. i'm tom brokaw. for all of us at nbc news, good night. right now at 11:00, keeping a close eye on two stories, videos shows a police officer kicking a suspect in the head. plus breaking news hundreds of acres burned.

homes evacuated tonight we are on the front lines of the fast-moving forest fire. good evening. >> here's a look at the brush fire in burlington county. on the left is what it looked like earlier tonight and on the right around 4:00 this afternoon as sky 4 10 was on the scene. >> the forest fire forced people in about 25 homes to evacuate this afternoon. but tonight, there are no evacuation orders. this evening nbc 10's steve jones had a chance to get up close to the situation. >> reporter: firefighters dealing with take a walk with me. seeing ash and smoke an they're building up back walls, lines of fire they hope to connect around the brush fire at this point to stop it from spreading. tonight, the ground burns. flames engulf 710 acres. that's more than one square mile.