On the recordJuly 30, 2020
It was 9 years, last night, I was in an emergency room in Austin, Texas. I had fluid on my lungs and I didn't know what was going on. I found out 2 days later, 3 days later, it was likely, and then turned out to be, stage III Hodgkin's lymphoma. It was kind of a curve ball one gets when you have got a 4-month-old daughter, 2-year-old son, and a wife scared out of her mind. I remember the prayers and I remember the calls. I remember all of it like it was yesterday. I can't believe it has been 9 years. Governor Perry, for whom I worked at the time, couldn't have been a better man or gentleman trying to help us get through it. I went down to MD Anderson and did a trial drug that is now the standard of care. I am alive today because of that and because of the great doctor I had at MD Anderson. I remember when going through that, of course, you don't know what the outcome is going to be. It wasn't until October I remember being down there with my wife when we got the news that the cancer was clear. I had to finish treatment through January of 2012. It changes your perspective. Now, everybody in this Chamber has personally dealt with something like that. I can't even imagine what my friend Andy Barr is going through in losing his lovely wife. I can't imagine what folks who have known Representative Lewis for decades are going through. I can't imagine what Chairman Nadler has been going through with his wife's battle with cancer. We could go around the room.…
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