Brooklyn brothers William and David Miller have reached many of life's milestones together. As kids growing up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, they bowled in the same league at the former Fisk Simmons Lanes in Crown Heights.  

They played in the same neighborhood softball and basketball games. They both got married in 1975 - and had their first-born sons a month apart.

Today, the two brothers have become each other's life-support systems when both were diagnosed with prostate cancer.

"My brother was doing his checkup and I was doing mine. We didn't know we were doing it at the same time," said David Miller, 56, of East New York, an administrator at St. Paul's Community Baptist Church in East New York.

William Miller, 58, of Mill Basin found out a week later he had prostate cancer. At that point, the brothers decided to have their surgeries at the same time.

The problem was that David's doctor didn't take his brother's insurance.

"So I looked for a doctor that would take both our insurance plans," said William Miller, a nurse at Kings County Hospital.

They found Dr. David Samadi of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, who performed the two surgeries the same day in March.

"This is a unique story," said Samadi. "You never hear of two brothers diagnosed the same time who have the same surgery with the same doctor."

During recovery, the Miller brothers stayed in the same room sharing each other's reactions both physical and emotional.

"We were able to talk about the surgery," said David.

"There is no question they helped each other during recovery," said Samadi.

"Emotionally, it was great because they could see each other go through the same thing, giving them both a comfort level."

Today, they are cancer-free and still keep tabs on each other.

"The surgery really brought us together," said William.

Originally published on November 7, 2006

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