Damon Lamont Smith is a family man. He has eleven kids and two stepchildren, ranging from two years old to 32. “My hands are full with them alright,” he laughs, though he acknowledges that at least the older kids, who’ve grown up and left home, don’t require chasing.

Busy as his “tightknit” family keeps him, Smith wouldn’t have it any other way. He loves how his young children bombard him when he arrives home, calling “Daddy, Daddy.” The happiness they bring him “makes me want to me fight . . . so that I can be here for them.”

Smith has been battling prostate cancer for “a little over two years.” His prostate was removed in the spring of 2023, he says. While he has always tried to stay healthy, “cancer,” he says, “it can engulf anybody. Any age, race.”

A patient at Eskenazi Health since the days of Wishard Hospital, Smith suffers from other ailments in addition to cancer, including carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis and issues with his sciatic nerve. His Eskenazi Health providers “take good care of me. They help me out as far as anything I need, or if I got some questions to be answered or asked.” He appreciates his primary care provider at Eskenazi Health Center Grassy Creek, Priyanthie Ganenthiran, M.D., calling her “a real nice doctor.”

Smith is grateful for his deep support system. A man of faith, Smith says, “I gotta thank the man upstairs, first and foremost.” He has experienced a “ lot of support from my kids and my fiancee and my family . . . . ”

He has also discovered an unexpected care network: friends facing similar medical issues. They push him to keep fighting. His fiancee does as well, urging him to be easier on himself and to go on vacations, as with a birthday trip to Orlando, which took a different kind of courage. Smith had never been on a plane before and was afraid enough of heights to be “spooked” during the trip there.

The Indianapolis native and long-time eastside resident praises Eskenazi Health Urology for their help during his illness. He jokes that the nurses there will “get on” him if he doesn’t watch his health. “They treat me as their patient, but also almost like a family [member] to them.” Throughout the process, his primary care doctor has also “ encouraged me so much. She just makes me feel like I’ve got this. Just don’t worry about it. Everything’s going to be okay.”

This encouragement is not the only reason his medical team at Eskenazi Health has been a “big plus.” He appreciates how informed they keep him about testing, options and his condition. Smith doesn’t want anyone to sugarcoat his situation. “They don’t leave anything out,” he says. Staying brave for his loved ones makes direct talk a welcome relief. When you have cancer, he explains, “you’ve got a lot of questions without that many answers.”

There are times when Smith feels sad and depressed; he knows other cancer patients feel the same. He advises everyone dealing with health scares to share what they’re going through and to not let embarrassment or fear keep them from taking care of themselves, getting their health conditions checked and expressing their worries. Most of all, he advises them, “Don’t give up on yourself.”

Smith has carried another kind of  support with him throughout this challenging time: a necklace with a picture of his mother. This image of his “angel,” whom he described as his “best friend” and his “everything” before her death, accompanies him while he is out and about — hanging out with his family at Great Wolf Lodge or watching his kids plot to outscore him at bowling. Remembering how his mother was a “granny” or “mama” to his neighborhood, Smith adds, “She was an amazing woman.”

Like the mother he adored, Smith wants to be there for his fiancee, friends, family members and others he encounters. A serious illness does have a benefit, as he sees it, because it “makes you more caring,” especially toward others who may be facing similar illnesses. “My main thing is,” Smith says, “I try to make others happy and smile and feel great inside.”