When I stumbled across a Yahoo News article entitled “Call for more investment to fix radiotherapy’s PR problem” I was certain they were talking about proton therapy because it is the form of radiation in dire need of better PR. As proton advocates know, bringing awareness of proton therapy to the public has been and continues to be a challenge. Everyone has heard of radiation, but even after decades of successful use in the treatment of many types of cancer, …

My beloved mother-in-law died just three months after I completed proton therapy for prostate cancer at University of Florida Health Proton Therapy Institute in Jacksonville. On that day we inherited and adopted Baxter, the perky little 27-pound mutt who kept her company in her final years. Baxter and I have been best pals ever since, and he has taught me a lot about life—lessons that are particularly valuable in my post-proton, post-cancer existence. Baxter was then (2010) about six years …

For us prostate cancer patients, life changed forever on the day we were diagnosed. Like flipping a cerebral switch, our view of the world was instantly reprioritized from top to bottom. Much of what once mattered little suddenly became paramount, and what may have seemed important often became trivial. We cancer patients know this, but the other people in our lives—our doctors, nurses, friends, and family—might not fully appreciate the intensity of this altered perspective on life. A closer look …

I woke up this morning and routinely checked my newsfeeds, which include various searches for proton news. I was horrified to learn of a disastrous occurrence. I read and re-read this chilling headline several times: Proton beam failure leaves hundreds of child cancer patients at risk. What? A proton beam failure? Potentially harming children? Where was that? What kind of failure? Are the children okay? I quickly went to the full text article. I read it twice. Thankfully, there was …