Teacher returns after successful cancer treatment

Boone history teacher Randy Miller has returned to teaching after more than two months away due to prostate cancer.

On Jan. 21, Miller had a blood test, and doctors said that he should be all clear of the cancer.

“They cleaned me up,” he said while laughing.

He first started noticing something unusual in July.

“When I went pee, there was a little bit of blood, but I didn’t think much of it,” he said. A few weeks later, he noticed it again, so he made an appointment with his doctor.

Right away, the doctor knew something abnormal was happening, so Miller was sent to a cancer specialist.

“You name the body part, they scanned it, and I had about 4-5 tests including an MRI test, X-rays, just about everything,” he said.

After a couple of weeks, the doctors got to work. On Oct. 23, Miller had surgery.

“I have had a long recovery, and it’s still happening,” he said. “I’m used to healing a lot faster than others, and doing it my way and on my own time, but that didn’t happen in this case.”

Family is very tight for Miller, and he said he got anything he needed.

“It was nice for me to have family, they were always there when I was sick,” he said.

After Miller’s departure, the students and staff at Boone began to give him cards and gifts.

“The students were pretty sad, but they sent me nice cards, which was cool,” he said while smiling.

“(The response from the teachers) was the best part of all of it. They sent gift cards for dinner, so my wife didn’t have to cook. She could just go get the food and bring it back to me since I couldn’t move much,” he said.

“My wife was really touched by the teachers doing that for us, and it was a big help for us.”

It came to be Christmas time, and it was hard because Miller couldn’t lift more than 10 pounds.

“My wife wouldn’t let me hang the lights, but I did anyway when she wasn’t looking,” he said while laughing.

Though the cancer reached stage 4, the doctors were able to contain the disease.

“I had amazing doctors; they stopped the spreading,” he said. Although the cancer is in remission, the battle is still ongoing.

Miller has been through many battles: he was in the military, and he has had 10 surgeries in his lifetime, but he called this one was the worst of all.

“This one I had to win or I would be done,” he said while laughing.

Miller is back to teaching, something he says he loves, but something that is harder than it used to be.

“Having an hour and a half class is hard. As soon as class ends I run to the bathroom. Sometimes I can’t even make it an hour,” he said.

On Feb. 4, Miller had his final exam, and he will find out if his cancer is in remission.

Cancer can be a big thing for people all around the world. For Miller, it was new to him, but he learned a lot as well.

“Be patient and let your body heal itself. It takes a long time to heal and get back to normal,” he said. “Listen to your doctors, family, and good friend’s advice, and ask for help when needed. Cancer isn’t easy. One should have a support group of doctors, nurses, family, friends, work colleagues, and acquaintances that went through the same thing.”