When Bill Potts answers the phone for DailyMail.com, he is infectiously jubilant.
The father of three is a five-time cancer survivor: thyroid cancer once and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma four times.
‘It sounds strange to even say those words (five-time cancer survivor). “It’s a very large number,” he stated. “It’s humbling… And obviously I’m grateful.”
He remains highly focused throughout the entire hour and 20-minute call, which he later claims is one of the lessons he learned from his roller coaster medical battle: absorb each experience as if it were his last.
“You start to live much more in the present, because the future is not guaranteed,” he said.
Potts, 63, of St. Petersburg, Florida, works in sales and has fought a 20-year battle with the disease.
As a cancer veteran, he has decades of experience treating treatments and dealing with their side effects, and has a wealth of advice to give other cancer patients.
He offered some of this advice and expressed his condolences to Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, who revealed Friday that she is receiving treatment for an unknown form of the disease.
“If I could give you just one piece of advice,” he said, “it would be to stay the course.” He focused 100 percent of his efforts on fighting cancer. Let your family and close friends support you. Now is the time to focus only on yourself… and give yourself the grace to be focused only on yourself.’
Bill Potts with his wife Kim and twin daughters Sarah and Anna
Potts and his wife ring the doorbell to mark his final chemotherapy session in March 2021
For Potts, it all started in 2003, when her primary care doctor informed her during a regular doctor’s appointment that there was “something wrong” with her thyroid.
“He was actually able to physically see a tumor that was on my thyroid in my neck,” Mr. Potts said.
At the time, Mr Potts was 42 years old, in excellent shape and had no symptoms.
“I was surprised,” he said. “I got physically sick in the doctor’s office when they told me.”
A biopsy confirmed it was thyroid cancer and it was removed during a five-and-a-half-hour surgery, followed by intense radiation treatment.
Doctors at another clinic later told Mr. Potts that the high radiation he received for thyroid cancer could have been the cause of his next cancer: non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which returned several times.
Radiation involves using intense energy rays to kill cancer cells. Because it is not 100 percent accurate, surrounding healthy tissue can be damaged, causing mutations that increase the risk of cancer.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma affects the lymphatic system, the tissues and organs that make, store and transport white blood cells that fight infections and other diseases.
There is a large concentration of lymph nodes around the neck.
Potts in hospital for surgery in November 2020
‘I was in the hospital for that (radiotherapy) and they discharged me.
At that point, “I thought my cancer journey was over,” Mr. Potts said.
But six months later, doctors told her that the thyroid cancer had returned and she would need to undergo radiation treatment again.
“I thought, wait a second, that doesn’t pass the smell test,” Potts said. ‘How could I have thyroid cancer when I had my thyroid removed and underwent significant amounts of radiation treatment to eliminate what was left?’
Confused, he decided to get a second opinion. He went to MD Anderson, the number one cancer center in the United States, who told him that while he did not have thyroid cancer, he had received a large amount of radiation therapy.
Then, five years after his initial diagnosis, in 2008, He was diagnosed with stage three non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The doctors told him they would prescribe him intense chemotherapy.
‘This time I didn’t panic. I wasn’t scared. I was sad. Angry. Shocked. But I knew how to manage it,” she stated.
Desperate not to lose his hair, Mr Potts refused and demanded that doctors find an alternative solution.
‘It took a while. They met for about two hours. I almost missed my flight back to Tampa. They said, ‘You’ll never have heard of this before, because no one had actually heard of this before.’ But we are trying something called immunotherapy.’
In 2008, immunotherapy was fairly new, although it is now a common form of treatment. It works by stimulating or changing the way the body’s immune system works to help it fight cancer.
He was the 23rd patient in an immunotherapy clinical trial and, as a result, went into remission for five and a half years.
Seeking a second opinion and being your own advocate are two important tips Mr. Potts emphasizes for other cancer patients.
Potts, a lifelong athlete, said exercise is “a huge help for someone with cancer or cancer that will come back,” he said.
Before treatments, he walks, bikes, and plays tennis.
During treatments it’s “a completely different story,” he said. “My main goal is to walk a little every day, and if I can’t walk, I just sit outside.”
Mr Potts completing Ironman Texas
After immunotherapy put him in remission from his lymphoma, it wasn’t until six years later, in 2014, that it returned. This time, Mr Potts underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his throat and underwent treatment again.
Then in 2019, the lymphoma recurred in his groin area and he was treated again at MD Anderson. In September 2020, after another 11 months of being in remission, his lymphoma returned once again.
“It was a frustrating time,” he said.
He underwent surgery to remove the new tumor below his right hip, followed by “six ugly months of chemotherapy and immunotherapy.”
As part of her cancer journey, Potts takes her diet seriously.
Avoid fried foods, red meat, and fatty and sugary foods. He has also drastically reduced his daily intake and drinks a lot more water.
Potts in January earlier this year.
Immune-boosting foods, such as “lots of vegetables, including colorful peppers, fruits, and lean white meats,” now fill her meals.
Another piece of advice from Mr. Potts is to form a team to fight cancer.
“For me, it’s my primary care doctor, I have a dermatologist because I had skin problems due to my chemotherapy, I have to make sure they take care of my dental health, all of this is affected by their treatments.”
In addition to medical professionals, they are also family and friends. Potts has twin daughters, Anna and Sarah, and a son named Nick.
Her family also helped write parts of the 168-page book, including a chapter on how to deal with a cancer patient if you are their spouse or family.
The book is ‘What to Expect When You’re Pregnant,’ but for cancer, she said, and it’s packed with seemingly small, practical tips that can make a big difference.
It was the hospital pastor’s idea for Mr. Potts to write the book.
For example, don’t use valet parking when you go to get treatment, because you won’t want to pay for the car when you leave the hospital.
His other tips are to not let a cancer diagnosis define you and to stay positive.
And lastly, be sure to keep an eye on those who care for you.
“If you are a parent, brother, son or daughter, as everyone is, don’t forget to keep an eye on them,” Mr Potts said.
‘You need to keep an eye on how they are doing and make sure they get the help and support they need as a patient’s family member.
‘You should always remind yourself how they are doing and what I can do to get them support. That’s why it’s helpful to have outside partners accompanying you to treatment, so you can sometimes give your spouse a break.’
Potts added: “If I’m going to live to be 93, I’m going to have to be a lot more than a five-time cancer survivor; I’m going to have to get to 10, 11, 12 times, so we’ll see.”
Up For The Fight is available on Amazon.