Mayor Don Hillman is fighting liver cancer.

Hillman, 72, has missed a few days of work and was not at the Oct. 6 Powell City Council meeting. But Hillman said he aims to regain his health and continue to serve as mayor.

“I hope I beat this cancer,” he said in an interview with the Powell Tribune at his City Hall office Tuesday. “And if I do, I fully intend to run for another term as mayor.

“I like my job and I like Powell,” he said. “I plan on beating this.”

Hillman learned he had cancer in February after a medical appointment in Billings, Mont. As a new patient, a full blood profile was run, he said, and he was told he had some kind of infection.

Further study, including a pair of CAT scans and an MRI determined he had a tumor about the size of a baseball or a grapefruit in his liver. It was too large to be surgically removed, Hillman was told.

The good news was, it had not metastasized, he said. It was centered in his liver.

Referring to a thick blue binder for the exact terminology, he said he is receiving hepatic angiogram with chemotherapy embolization, which is also referred to as transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, or TACE.

According to cancer.org, the procedure “injects substances to try to block or reduce the blood flow to cancer cells in the liver.” It’s an outpatient procedure.

Hillman had it performed four times in Denver. He said he has been told the cancer is linked to an iron overload in his blood, something he has been aware of for 35 years.

At the end of this summer, his doctors in Denver said they did not plan to do anymore treatments and advised him to return home and seek whatever care he wanted or needed to keep the cancer in remission.

Hillman said he didn’t accept that answer.

“I’m not going to give up yet,” he said.

Hillman is now being treated at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where he underwent numerous tests.

“I think I had every test there was,” he said. “A couple I had twice.”

Hillman said he was told there was reason for optimism, since “all my liver functions are good.” Another TACE was performed on Oct. 1, and he returned to Powell a few days later.

“They told me to go home for two or three months,” Hillman said.

He said the goal is to let his body heal from the harsh treatment that is needed to defeat the cancer. Then, doctors hope to reduce the size of the tumor so it can be removed or that he can live with it.

“Only time’s going to tell,” Hillman said. “The good Lord and doctors is where I am now.”

Getting on with life

He said while he often feels tired and struggles at time with “chemo brain,” which can slow his reactions and create a fog in his mind for a bit, he feels surprisingly well. He has lost 20 pounds since the diagnosis.

Doctors told him the treatment would leave him weak and sick, as if he was undergoing the worst case of flu he had ever had — times 10. While he said it doesn’t seem quite that bad, he has suffered “serious pain” in the last few months.

Hillman was stumped when asked the emotional toll the illness is having on him.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” he said.

But the mayor, who served on the council several years ago before returning to public life in 2012 when he was elected to lead the city, said he plans to continue to go about his daily life.

“You just kind of put it aside and keep on doing your regular daily things,” Hillman said. He said there’s no sense in sitting home and feeling sorry for himself.

“That isn’t going to get anything done,” he said.

Hillman’s illness has been referred to during a few council meetings, including one when he said late nights tired him out because of his treatment. During one meeting this summer, he wore an oxygen tube in his nose.

Hillman now uses a cane at times. He has a fused right ankle from “old football injuries” and is a little unsteady on his feet, he said. But on Tuesday, he moved around the City Hall administrative offices without it while discussing issues with staffers.

But until now, he had declined to discuss his cancer, referring to it as a personal matter. After he missed last week’s council meeting, and the Tribune again asked to speak with him about it, Hillman agreed to discuss it.

For one thing, he said there were rumors all over town about his health. Some said he was fine, Hillman said with a laugh, while others said “the funeral is on Tuesday.”

Finally, someone gave him advice that made sense, he said: “There’s nothing to be ashamed about having cancer.”

Hillman said his wife, Judy — they will mark 51 years of marriage in November — has been by his side during the treatments and his son Jason and daughter Raquel have also been rocks during his illness.

“It is what it is,” the mayor said. “I’m going to fight the good fight. I told a guy, I don’t know if it’s going to be six months, six years or 10 years. But I’m going to live every day.”

Hillman said he wants to see all of his grandchildren graduate from high school. The youngest is 7.

Plus, the 1960 Powell High School graduate wants to continue to serve his hometown. Hillman enjoys the detail of city government, studying infrastructure and planning for future development.

He’s used to managing people and departments, having spent 40 years with Montana-Dakota Utilities, the last 13 as Wyoming district manager in charge of gas and electric distribution.

City Administrator Zane Logan works closely with Hillman; their offices are side by side.

“The mayor and I both share in the belief that city infrastructure and utilities are the city’s foremost priority to our community,” Logan said Tuesday. “This common philosophy helps govern the day-to-day operating and maintenance decisions that need to be made.

“The mayor comes into City Hall when he is able, and he is otherwise available by email and cell phone,” he said. “There are six other council members that I can always consult for direction, questions or concerns.”

Logan said Hillman has been open about his cancer and the treatment.

“City staff is aware of the mayor’s illness, and any small adjustments or considerations we have to make are insignificant compared to the battle he is fighting,” he said. “We are all looking forward to his full-time return to City Hall.”

Hillman said he feels the same way. He’s a stoic man in many ways, and wants to keep moving forward. However, the illness has reduced his extracurricular activities, he admits.

“I just get tired,” Hillman said.

When he wants to go boating, he makes sure someone comes along. He still has gone out four-wheeling a few times and looks forward to more trips, Hillman said.

“I fully intend to get back into the swing of things,” he said. “Tell folks I plan on beating this. There’s a lot of things I want to get done as mayor.”