Feature
From Employee to Patient to Advocate
December 21, 2006
Phil Thompson's journey with the IU Cyclotron Facility
Over the past nearly 40 years, Phil Thompson has been an employee, patient, and volunteer with the IU Cyclotron Facility and Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute.
During the 32 years he worked at the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF) — from 1968 until his retirement in 2000 — Bloomington native Phil Thompson saw the role of the world famous physics research facility expanded to include providing proton beams for a new cancer treatment center, the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute (MPRI). But Thompson never expected to become a patient there himself.
In 2004, when Thompson was diagnosed with malignant prostate cancer, he knew immediately he wanted to be treated at MPRI. "This is a very unique treatment," said Thompson. "Even my doctor in Bloomington was unaware of proton therapy."
Proton therapy is a precise form of radiation that limits damage to surrounding, healthy tissue, efficiently treats resistant tumors, and can be administered in higher doses than standard radiation. Proton energy can be more precisely guided than standard radiation with X-rays, making it an optimal treatment for localized cancers.
Thompson underwent 44 treatments over a two-month period. While it took about an hour to position his body for each treatment, the actual treatment took about two minutes. The tumor died gradually over the course of a year, with no pain and none of the side effects common with standard treatment, which include impotency and bladder and bowel control problems.
During his treatment, when Thompson met out-of-town patients at MPRI, he realized how fortunate he was to have a network of family and friends in town and decided to create a support system for other patients. Through his church, he created Hoosier Hospitality, a program that hosts weekly dinners for MPRI patients and helps integrate them into the community while they're in town.
Recently, Thompson befriended a couple who had come to MPRI from rural Missouri for the woman's treatment. They were nervous about traveling so far from home, a farm so isolated that they often didn't go into town weeks at a time.
"We became such close friends with them that she wrote the other day and said 'Phil, I miss you folks so much, if we ever thought about moving, we would come to Bloomington,'" said Thompson. "Personal relationships make a huge difference. You sort of open your arms and say, 'We're here to help you. We're going to support you.'"
