By Carol Estocko

After Ben Smith was “fired” by his urologist 10 years ago for declining to undergo a radical prostatectomy to treat his prostate cancer, Smith fired up his computer and got to work.

“I started doing Internet research and looking at every available therapy at the time, even cryotherapy,” the 62-year-old Cocoa Beach, Florida, resident says. “All of the treatments had pretty good e ffi cacy. But then, they would talk all about the possible side e ff ects like impotence and incontinence — except for proton beam therapy.”

At the time, there were only a handful of clinical centers o ff ering proton therapy in the United States, including ones in Boston, Massachusetts, and Loma Linda, California. “I did a little more homework and found that the University of Florida was actually building one in Jacksonville, which is two hours from my home,” says Smith. He reached out to the sta ff of the soon-to-open University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute (UFPTI) and said he wanted to be the first patient.

“I waited for it to open,” says Smith, who received his first proton beam treatment at UFPTI on August 14, 2006.

“I was the first person in that machine when they turned it on,” he recalls. “I had 39 treatments, and the equipment worked every time. I might have been delayed while they tweaked something, but I never had a treatment get cancelled. This is complicated machinery — a particle accelerator, magnets. It’s crazy how huge, powerful and complex these systems are. And they got it up and running 39 days in a row.”

Smith, a retired aerospace engineer, thinks that many doctors still view proton therapy as an experimental procedure — if they have even heard about it at all.

“I think one has to be one’s own advocate,” he says. “I don’t think doctors want to harm you. But the urologist wants to operate. The radiation oncologist wants to radiate. Another person wants to do seed implants (brachytherapy). They want to do what they know. And a lot of people go with whatever the doctor says.”

Smith and his wife Lisa are in the process of restoring a 36-foot sailboat, which they plan to live on for the foreseeable future. They will travel, then determine where they want to settle down. “We are enjoying our lives,” he says.

“For me, proton beam was a treatment I was privileged and blessed to have, but it’s just something that I did, and I’m glad I did it. If I see an article on it, I’ll read it. But it’s not something that I need to make a major part of my life.”

This article originally appeared March 20, 2015, in Proton Therapy Today. Used with permission.

The 11th Annual Play Golf. Fight Cancer.® Classic , UF Health Proton Therapy Institute’s primary fundraising event, is Oct. 11-12, 2015, at The World Golf Village, St. Augustine, Fla. The event is being presented by IBA and .decimal with additional support from Shepherd and has something for everyone.

A dinner and silent auction is planned for Sunday, Oct. 11, in the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum. For all who register as a player, you automatically have a ticket to the dinner. However, tickets to attend the dinner and silent auction are also available for those who do not wish to play golf.

Aside from a great dinner, you will enjoy entertainment such as:

• A live auction called by local celebrity Chef Robert Tulko.

• Bid on auction items such as

• A one-week stay at a North Carolina cabin
• A luxury boat excursion for 6 people
• Dinner for 6 prepared by Chef Robert Tulko
• Passes to the 2016 The PLAYERS tournament
• A laptop computer

• A look inside the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum honoring the greatest players and contributors to the game of golf.

• Try out the new Golfzon golf simulator for a virtual experience playing on a choice of 150 worldwide courses

The tournament will be played Monday, Oct. 12, on both of the o ffi cial courses of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The King & Bear is a course that has the distinction of being the only design collaboration between namesakes Arnold “The King” Palmer and Jack “The Bear” Nicklaus. The Slammer & Squire is a championship resort course designed by Bobby Weed with consultants Sam “The Slammer” Snead and Gene “The Squire” Sarazen.

Golfers will have the chance to win prizes along the way and to meet and greet 7-time Olympic medalist Shannon Miller. She is the honorary chair of this year’s tournament and is the keynote speaker at the awards ceremony following tournament play.

Please join us in support of proton therapy research and register today at www.playgolffightcancer.org website. To donate or support the cause in some other way, if you are not available for the event, contact tournament chair Michael McPhillips at mcpforegolf@gmail.com (904) 910-7098 or Judy Taylor Holland jholland@floridaproton.org (904) 588-1401.