Lake Charles TV meteorologist returns home after 40-day Houston stay for radiation treatment

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- For nearly 40 days, a southwest Louisiana television meteorologist kept working from afar during his ongoing battle against colon cancer. Now, he's headed home to continue the fight, but he'll be back in-studio.

We met Ben Terry, a meteorologist for KPLC-TV Lake Charles, last month as he worked remotely from his Houston hotel room.

While each dose of radiation took only minutes at Houston Methodist Radiation Oncology, he had to show up each weekday for the treatment. The two-and-a-half hour one-way trip from home wasn't feasible, so he did his daily broadcasts for southwest Louisiana remotely. On Thursday, Terry took his last dose, but it wasn't the end of his fight.

"After you've been through 28 treatments, your body starts to notice it," Terry said. "It's more of an internal type pain and fatigue. But today, I got an added boost of energy because it was the last one."

Terry became emotional as he rang the survivors bell situated just outside the treatment room.

"We're going to ring it out," he said as he held back tears. "Ring this bell three times. It's run its course, and I'm on my way."

Terry's doctor revealed a bit of promising news just before that moment. His latest scans showed the tumor inside his body had already shrunk by 60%. The goal is to reduce its size so surgeons can remove it soon.

SEE ALSO: Louisiana meteorologist keeps viewers informed remotely during colon cancer battle

The cancer diagnosis came late last year, which was already a grave challenge for Terry and the entire southwest Louisiana region.

His home was destroyed by Hurricane Laura while he was evacuated to Baton Rouge along with most of his television station colleagues. The remote weather forecasting he did while in Baton Rouge may have been a drastic, yet necessary measure, but it became a good practice run for his Houston hotel room setup.

"You think you're just going in for a routine procedure and you end up finding out you have cancer," Terry said last month. "That was not expected after what we'd just been through with the hurricane season and now this."

SEE ALSO: Most intense moments from Hurricane Laura in Lake Charles

Once he was diagnosed, doctors tried chemotherapy, but it wasn't effective.

Despite fatigue and the side effects of chemo, he plans to keep working until his surgery is scheduled.

He'll just be doing it from Lake Charles again.

SEE ALSO: When to get colon cancer screenings

Follow Charlie Haldeman on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram.