TAMPA, Fla. -- Floyd Cook knows pretty much every inch of Moffitt Cancer Center. He once spent 18 straight days there under doctor care.
Friday’s visit was much more peaceful.
“Yeah, this is a joyful trip!” Cook said. “This is wonderful.”
There were no treatment or surgery appointments for Cook. He was the guest of honor at a Veteran’s Day event in front of the hospital.
Moffitt honored the cancer survivor and 20-year Air Force veteran for his courage in the fight against cancer and his determination during two decades of military service.
“I’m just happy on the inside,” he said. “It’s a true blessing to be honored.”
Jessica Schwarzkopf, the daughter of decorated U.S. Army General Norman Schwarzkopf, handed Floyd a plaque commemorating his service. It was an honor for her as a child of a veteran and cancer survivor herself.
“I was diagnosed with breast cancer in my mid-30s and it was a bit shocking,” she said. “Now, I’ve been cancer-free for a while. It’s great to be able to know there is hope.”
His family sat quietly behind Floyd wearing non-Hodgkin Lymphoma awareness t-shirts. They clapped for joy as he was called up to receive his award.
“He believes in God. Nothing is going to hold him down,” His niece, Florence Jordan, said. “He knows the man above has him all the way.”
Cook spent two decades traveling the world working reconnaissance missions in the United States Air Force. Five years ago, Cook started feeling extremely exhausted. When the fatigue forced him to stop playing basketball, he went to the doctor and was eventually diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
He spent years undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments, but it was CAR T therapy, or chimeric antigen receptor therapy, that sent him into remission in the summer of 2018. Yet, something still didn’t feel quite right and shortly thereafter, doctors diagnosed him with lung cancer.
A few hundred people gathered to honor him Friday morning.
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