Dad battling aggressive cancer had no hope for a cure—his 10-year-old’s one answer changed things
Kids often offer their parents support at the most unexpected moments. One dad needed that support from his 10-year-old son as he battled aggressive cancer. The man, Dr. Nick Mondek, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia back in 2022. He had gone into remission after treatment, but his cancer came back over two and a half years later. The doctors were confused about what to do next. At that moment, there was a unique idea and affirmative response from Mondek's son, Stephen, that changed everything, per a statement from Cedars Sinai.
Mondek had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia back in 2022. At that time, he received a stem cell transplant from his older brother and went into remission. His brother was a perfect genetic match and things were fine for over two and a half years. Unfortunately, Mondek's cancer came back in April 2025. "We followed every clinical protocol, but the disease still managed to come back, so we had a new problem on our hands. How could we treat his cancer a second time around and have a better chance that it doesn’t return?" Ronald Paquette, clinical director of the Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Cedars-Sinai Cancer, remarked. He needed a new stem cell transplant from a new donor, but none of his relatives or the National Bone Marrow Registry were a good option for him.
Mondek might have benefited from getting a transplant from a younger donor and recalled the case of a friend with lymphoma who had received a transplant from his 18-year-old son. Paquette pointed out that the man's son, who turned 10 this August, could be a good potential match for him as well. If the boy turned out to be a match, he would become the youngest stem-cell donor at the hospital. Stephen would be half a genetic match because he received his DNA from both his parents. That might work better for his dad if his immune system turned out to be compatible. "The conversation with Stephen was pretty simple. I said, 'Hey, Buddy, Dad's sick and they need someone to give me stem cells and they want to know if you want to get tested to see if you can do it,'" Mondek recounted. His son simply said, "When do we go?"
Stephen turned out to be a compatible donor for his dad. The doctors at the hospital explained everything to the boy to ensure that he knew what he was getting into. He went through the procedure and was home in a day after donating his stem cells. "Being an anesthesiologist, I put people to sleep every day, so I reassured myself that everyone wakes up when they go to sleep under anesthesia. But during the whole process that I've gone through, those 60 minutes when Stephen was asleep were probably the toughest," Mondek pointed out. He received the stem cells and was in the hospital for a month as he recovered.
He got out just in time to attend his son's little league game. "I felt good helping my dad and it felt good to have him home," Stephen shared. "Everything lined up for this. Dr. Paquette said the perfect donor for me would be someone who's young and healthy and a 50% match and we found him. He was right here in front of us," Mondek went on. Paquette shared that they would be able to determine if the new immune system from his son would help the man with his leukemia in a year or more.