your husband? it would probably made his care better and he would be with me, not in the ground. reporter: doctors tell us there s no way to know for sure whether getting the cancer out sooner would have saved mitchell. all his widow knows is that shortly after the operation they found cancer in his lungs. six months later, he was dead. reporter: mitchell still has her love laters he wrote her from the war zone all those years ago. you re the only girl in my life and you will always be. reporter: do you miss him? oh, my god, yes. every minute. every day. he was my love. reporter: dr. bill amoria, the doctor who did the study on the delays, these worked at three different vas and too often he and fellow surgeon his to fight to get the patients the surgeries when they needed it. it makes you wonder how many terry mitchells there are. how many stories you could be telling. elizabeth cohen, thanks so much for sharing their story.