Brain Cancer Survivor Mateo Badillo Soto
"We’re so grateful to Texas Center for Proton Therapy, the staff is wonderful and great with kids! We just wanted to see him run around and play like he used to – and we’re so glad he’s back to being his energetic self."
(Nancy Sanchez, mother of Mateo)
Mateo Badillo Soto
Brain Cancer Survivor
Seven-year-old Mateo Badillo Soto enjoys basketball, soccer, painting, and all things Marvel related. When he started experiencing frequent headaches, nausea, and lethargy, his family made an appointment with his pediatrician in their hometown of Dallas to find the cause of his symptoms. “Mateo was having headaches and seemed so tired all the time,” said his mother, Nancy Martinez. “He loves going to the playground and swinging on the swings – we knew something wasn’t right when he didn’t feel like running around and playing.”
Mateo was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a brain tumor that develops at the back of the brain in the cerebellum. Childhood cancers are rare, accounting for less than one percent of all cancer diagnoses. Mateo’s pediatrician immediately recommended proton therapy for Mateo – with its highly targeted dosage and no exit dose, proton therapy was the ideal option to spare his healthy tissue and surrounding vital organs. Proton radiation is also non-invasive and has fewer side effects, allowing young patients to maintain their quality of life both during treatment and later as they age.
As his treatments continued, he seemed to get more energetic,” said Nancy. “The timing worked out perfectly and he didn’t have to miss more than a week of school. We’re so grateful to Texas Center for Proton Therapy, the staff is wonderful and great with kids! We just wanted to see him run around and play like he used to – and we’re so glad he’s back to being his energetic self.”
Proton therapy is an ideal course of treatment for children whose bodies are still growing and maturing. The level of precision helps reduce risk of long-term side effects, such as neurological functions like speech, balance, and memory.
The information included in this testimonial is based on one patient’s unique experience and is not intended to represent all patient outcomes or expectations.