STEVE HOLMES OF VIERA was diagnosed with prostate cancer a year ago. Today, he says the experience taught him two things – don’t delay getting checked for cancer, and if you do need state-of-the-art care and live in Brevard County, you have the best care available right here in your own community.

Steve Holmes of Viera is fortunate to be back at his wife’s side. Mary Ann Holmes has Alzheimer’s disease, and he is her primary caregiver. This time last year, he received a prostate cancer diagnosis that could have hung both of their lives in the balance.

As a Boeing Space Shuttle Mechanical Systems Engineer for all 135 orbiter missions, Holmes was careful and exact about planning – “My career was based on that.” – but his health was another matter, partly because he always seemed to be in good health.

“My flaw was ignorance," he says. "Well, that’s a death sentence."

When he first got the diagnosis, he was concerned he’d have to travel great distances to get the proper treatment, such as Jacksonville or Tampa, even Orlando.

But he quickly found out that Health First has state-of-the- art tech, and a team that put him at ease.

“It’s not just about our facility and our equipment, it’s really about the team,” says Health First Cancer Institute Radiation Oncologist Brendan Prendergast, MD. “Patients get a sense that they’re in good hands, and that’s my goal.”

WATCH the Spectrum News 13 broadcast of Steve and his wife at home. Learn how Varian TrueBeam and IDENTIFY work together to deliver customized cancer treatment with sub-millimeter accuracy.