Jonathan gets his MPRI hat signed by his radiation oncologist, Dr. Andrew Chang.

On Tuesday, July 21, 11 year-old Jonathan Nugent and Bloomington’s Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute (MPRI), shared an important milestone: as the young boy from Valparaiso, Ind., completed his 13th and final proton therapy session, he became the 100th pediatric patient to complete treatment at MPRI since opening in February 2004.

The occasion was cause for a celebration, complete with cake and a gift card for Jonathan, who was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer last March.

“There are only five proton centers in the country and to have one in Indiana, it’s incredible,” says Jonathan’s mother, Jo Nugent.

Because a proton beam can be contoured to the exact shape of a tumor and programmed to stop at the cancer, proton therapy spares healthy cells—and in Jonathan’s case, important brain functions—from the effects of radiation.

“Proton therapy is an excellent tool that has enabled us to do many, many good things for pediatric patients,” says Dr. Andrew Chang – a staff physician at Riley Hospital for Children, the MPRI director of pediatric radiation oncology, and one of only a handful of doctors in the country who specialize in pediatric radiation oncology

Jonathan’s cancer is extremely rare—only two other patients have been treated with the same disease at MPRI. As a registered nurse, Jo knew it would be difficult to undergo the combination of treatments recommended for her son, including surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and finally proton beam therapy.

As Jonathan made his way to the treatment room on his final day of therapy, he joked and talked sports with radiation therapist Matt Hines, who has been known to—by request—dress in a hula skirt and show off his dance moves for young patients on their last treatment day.

“We always give our pediatric patients something to look forward to, like a visit to our toy table at the end of the week,” says radiation therapist Debbie Stockhover. “We try to make our patients feel as at home as possible and to do what we can to ease their anxiety.”

“He really surprised me,” she says. “He’s been a real trooper.” Five days a week, laying on a bed cradled in a device to help him stay still, Jonathan was moved within the field of the proton beam. After carefully calibrating his position with the treatment plan, the actual delivery of the proton beam takes less than one minute, allowing Jonathan and his mother to be on their way in under an hour. “After Jonathan’s treatments, we would go bowling or swimming,” says Mrs. Nugent.

Before Jonathan left MPRI for the last time, Dr. Chang—clad in a Spiderman shirt—and the center’s radiation therapists gathered around their young patient for a picture.

“Everyone at MPRI has been absolutely wonderful, very embracing,” Mrs. Nugent says before heading for home. “From the first day when the staff greeted us at the door to today, they just bent over backwards for us.”