5-year-old Husker fan rings the bell after finishing cancer treatment

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A 5-year-old Husker fan hit a milestone on Tuesday as she finished treatment for an inoperable brain tumor.

Aiyla “Bean” Schonlau underwent proton therapy in Philadelphia for the past six weeks.

SEE ALSO: Family bonds through Husker football as 5-year-old battles brain cancer

She rang the bell to celebrate the end of the treatment with her family by her side.

Bean and her mother, Nicole, packed up their lives in Denver and moved to Pennsylvania for the process.

Bean’s father and brother traveled back and forth to support her.

“In a way, it feels like we’ve been living a different life here,” Drew Schonlau said.

The Schonlaus said this experience has felt like a marathon.

“And it’s not over yet,” Nicole Schonlau said. “She still has more scans. But this was the toughest part of the marathon, being apart. And it feels really good to have this specific portion behind us.”

Bean is not cancer-free; this just marks the end of her proton therapy. Her next big hurdle is an MRI on Jan. 16, which will show whether the treatment worked on her tumor.

But for now, the Schonlaus are taking things day by day.

“We get her port out tomorrow, and we’re on the first flight back to Denver,” Nicole said.

Now, Bean can spend the holidays with her family back home. And she can start school for the first time, which she didn’t get to do with the rest of her classmates.

“I think she’s ready to be a normal little girl and take on kindergarten,” Nicole said.

There’s one more thing the family is looking forward to: getting to watch a Husker football game in the comfort of their own home for the first time this season.

“We’ll all get to be home for the bowl game, which will be exciting,” Nicole said.

Bean’s parents said she has stayed remarkably joyful through the entire process.

And they’re glad to take the next step forward in healing.