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Couple plans their future after defeating cancer
Defeating cancer together makes the 45th wedding anniversary for Eric and Debbie Bilow even more precious. FOX 13's Kylie Jones reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - For one couple in Florida, the phrase "in sickness and in health" is no longer just a line from their wedding vows.
The backstory:
Eric and Debbie Bilow, who have been together for 45 years, don't take the little things for granted, including being able to say, "I love you" to each other.
The couple will celebrate their 45th Valentine’s Day, a milestone that carries extra weight after both survived simultaneous battles with cancer.
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"We have been together for 45 years," Eric said. "This year we’ll spend our 45th Valentine’s Day together."
After carefully weighing the pros and cons, the couple moved to Florida six years ago with plans of living out their retirement dream. However, it was quickly interrupted when Eric was diagnosed with a form of throat cancer in 2020.
"My joke was that I didn’t see cancer on the spreadsheet at all," Debbie said.
After Eric was diagnosed with cancer, he went to Moffitt Cancer Center for radiation treatment. He thought he was on his way to recovery, when Debbie was diagnosed with breast cancer in the spring of 2020.
"They recommended that I have a lumpectomy, which I did, but at my appointment, Eric got a phone call that the cancer had returned," Debbie said.
Dig deeper:
The couple learned that Eric's cancer had progressed to stage four. He says his only hope of survival was if he had surgery.
"I had a large portion of my tongue taken out," Eric said. "I no longer have an epiglottis. My voice box was about 75% removed."
Doctors removed the cancer, but Eric was no longer about to eat, drink or speak.
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Debbie says they were forced to communicate by texting each other.
"My dream, if he could ever speak again, because we were working with speech therapists and stuff like that, all I wanted him to do is say, ‘I love you,’" Debbie said.
Eric spent an extensive amount of time trying to learn how to speak again, while also trying to learn American Sign Language. But he was focused on being able to tell his wife he loved her again.
"I practiced in private for hours every day to be able to say something," Eric said. "And finally, it worked."
Big picture view:
Since then, Eric has not only regained much of his ability to speak, but he says he's even more active and healthy than he was before he got cancer.
Eric has completed bicycle marathons, ran in races and even gone skydiving.
This past summer, he drove a Polaris Slingshot cross-country for 57 days to raise cancer awareness, meeting a different survivor every day.
What they're saying:
"I got home, I wrote a book about it," Eric said. "And not only my story about the trip, but 57 stories about cancer survivors I met all over America."
By the end of his trip, Eric says he had 110 names on the roof of his car, of some who lost their battle with cancer and others who survived it.
The cancer didn't steal the couple's sense of humor.
"We go out with friends, but one of us eats and one of us doesn’t," Debbie said. "But I make sure that he gets the bill."
Both Eric and Debbie are now five years cancer-free.
The couple says their experience has given them a positive outlook on life. Eric believes the cancer did him a favor, influencing him to live a healthy lifestyle.
"I also think that we taught our children and our grandchildren about tenacity and the ability to overcome challenges in life," Eric said.
The couple is focused on enjoying life and doing the things that make them happy.
The Source: Information for this story was gathered from interviews with the Bilow couple.