PUERTO RICO -- Juan Monrouzeau is a fighter. 

• Puerto Rican diagnosed with cancer weeks before Maria hit
• Juan Monrouzeau fighting stage four lung cancer
• Family had to find new doctor in states

The Puerto Rican native fought battles as an infantry soldier in the Vietnam War. Now he's fighting his next battle—stage four lung cancer. 

Doctors at the VA believe he got cancer after being exposed to Agent Orange during the war. 

He was diagnosed about three weeks before Hurricane Maria. But that fight became more difficult once the storm hit. 

"There was no service, no room," Monrouzeau said. "Someone at the Veterans Hospital said, 'If you can take him away, take him away. There's no way. He will not find services here.'"

Monrouzeau was supposed to have surgery on September 25, five days after the hurricane. But resources became scarce. Doctors and specialists fled the island. He would no longer be able to get the care he needed.

Doctors said he only had three to four months to live if he did not get the surgery, which would remove a tumor on his lung. So his daughter had to find another solution.

Every day she would take her parents to the San Juan airport in hopes of finding them a flight somewhere, anywhere, in the United States so he could get the medical treatment he so desperately needed. 

Finally, after 3 months, she was able to fly him to the VA nearly 1,500 miles away in Richmond, Virginia.

"He was very fragile," Monrouzeau recalled. 

He was able to get his surgery that same month. To this day, he continues the fight against cancer, with his wife by his side. He is still at the VA in Richmond, while his wife stays in an apartment nearby.

Monrouzeau said doctors advised him against going back to Puerto Rico, even to visit, because his health is still very delicate.  

He may have passed the biggest hurdle, but Monrouzeau said it's still not easy for the rest of the family back on the island. 

"You know that they're better there, but you're not close to them. You want to help more and distance is a factor that is not fair," she said.  

She hopes the hospitals in Puerto Rico are able to find more resources for cancer patients soon. 

"I know that there are people in worse cases than us. I'm just lucky and grateful. I just hope that doesn't happen again or that people who still need help get it," she said. 

In the meantime, the family tries to visit Juan as much as possible. They hope to bring him back home when he completes chemo next year. 

The next challenge? Finding them a place to live when they move back. 

Their home was flattened during the hurricane.

But for now, Monrouzeau is focusing on one thing at a time.

"Baby steps," she said.