MART, Texas — Baylor Scott & White in Waco served more than 54,000 patients last year.
The center treats several different types of cancers.
Right now, one of their patients is a man from Mart, Texas. He’s fighting a battle against jaw cancer.
“It's pretty neat having them take a bone out of your leg and put it in your jaw and make it where you can talk again,” Aulin said.
Steven Aulin was diagnosed with jaw cancer in February, and for the past eight months he hasn’t been able to eat any solid food.
“Pureed potatoes and soup, Jell-O and pudding, ice cream — all the good stuff," Aulin said.
Aulin has had seven surgeries.
“Surgery to get my teeth pulled, surgery to put the tooth in, surgery to put the port in."
When he was first being treated at Baylor Scott and White in Temple, they thought the cancer was gone, but Baylor Scott and White in Waco found more cancer.
Doctors pushed forward with strong radiation.
"They pushed him — totally — when he felt like giving up. Don’t worry about that it’s just an emotion. He’ll get over it, and he did," said Steven's wife, Debra Aulin.
"They were not just good to him — they were good to both of us."
Something else that was good for the Aulin’s, was the short, 25-minute commute.
“With him being unable to drive, or unable to do anything, he couldn’t do nothing for himself,” Debra Aulin said.
Mandy Scoggings with Baylor Scott and White says their treatment facility saved the couple the drive to places like Dallas or Houston.
“It’s physically exhausting, mentally exhausting — if we can take part of that toll that drains them from driving and being in the car for three hours round trip, commute, staying in hotels, the financial burden of just traveling,” Scoggings said.
Debra is grateful for the lifesaving care that Steven has been able to receive so close to home.
"I never have to leave him. I could go and visit him every single day or stay with him during the day, or stay with him during the day, bring him up here if I needed to — do what I needed to do," Debra said.
"I didn’t have to leave him anywhere."
Due to part of Aulin’s jaw being missing, he wasn’t able to speak, but now he’s on his road to recovery.
"I'm just ready to take on the next hurdle and be back to my old self,” Aulin said.
Aulin told 25 News he can’t wait to eat some of his favorites again, like shrimp and tacos.
He has one more pet scan in December to find out if he’s completely cancer free.
