For decades, Bill Williams sat at the WBIR anchor desk and shared the stories of East Tennessee. Now, he's sharing his own - very personal story.
On November 4, Bill had surgery to remove a renal cell carcinoma cancer from his pancreas. The cancer was left over from kidney cancer he had 17 to 18 years ago.
"And that was supposed to be all that was to it. In the hospital for four to five days," Bill recalled.
But the days stretched into weeks and then months.
Bill experienced life threatening complications after surgery that kept him in the hospital for three months.
"I was in an induced coma for a while. They tell me I was very close to leaving this world. I had some wonderful doctors, nurses, and I had [my wife] Wanda with me every day," Bill said.
"I was remembering when I first walked out of the hospital room…I almost made it to the nurses station and people applauded. That was wonderful. I was determined to go and to go a little bit farther and I did," he recalled.
After three months, Bill walked out of the hospital on February 4.
The road to recovery has put Bill's strength and faith on display. After living months with a feeding tube, he's regained his voice and picked up the piano again.
But his fight against cancer isn't over yet.
"We went back and had a CAT scan a couple of months ago just to make sure and they discovered the cancer had reappeared…come back this time in my liver," Bill said, "Same kind of cancer – renal cell cancer . Four tumors in my liver. On chemo now…chemotherapy."
So far, he has handled the treatment very well and hasn't had any of the typical chemotherapy side affects. And he's making sure to live life fully by filling it with family, day trips, and plenty of faith.
"My surgical oncologist calls me a miracle and I feel that way too," Bill said, "It's been a miracle because of the doctors, the nurses, my wife and I know there have been hundreds if not thousands of prayers for me . Those prayers were heard and answered."