'I just wanted to help.' Father turns to 9-year-old son for lifesaving stem cell donation

The question came astatine meal toward the extremity of June.

Anesthesiologist Nick Mondek, 48, was dying of acute myeloid leukemia, a crab that affects blood-forming cells successful the bony marrow. It was a superior taxable to tackle with his then-9-year-old son, Stephen, arsenic they ate bowls of pasta.

But Mondek needed a stem compartment donor — and fast. So helium asked his lad to prevention his life.

The youngster agreed to beryllium tested astatine Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to spot if helium could donate stem cells to his father.

The Rolling Hills Country Day fourth-grader, who dreams of becoming a doc for a Major League Baseball team, had his ain question first: “When bash we go?”

In July, Stephen became what Cedars-Sinai Medical Center believes is its youngest known stem compartment donor.

“I conscionable wanted to help,” Stephen said.

His donation doesn’t conscionable bargain his begetter clip but offers anticipation that Stephen’s stem cells volition physique a newer, stronger immune strategy that volition assistance his begetter combat disconnected humor cancer.

“I wanted him to bash this arsenic his ain decision,” Mondek said. “I didn’t privation him to consciousness forced. I didn’t privation him to consciousness similar helium had to bash it.”

Nick Mondek, a 48-year-old anesthesiologist, was dying of acute myeloid leukemia, a crab that affects blood-forming cells successful the bony marrow, and needed a stem donation to rebuild his immune system. His 9-year-old lad Stephen stepped successful to help.

(Courtesy of Cedars-Sinai)

Mondek’s travel from doc to diligent began successful April 2022.

The then-45-year-old, an worker astatine the Martin Luther King Jr. Ambulatory Surgery Center, felt perpetually fatigued with small appetite. Then 1 time helium couldn’t crook his head. His resting bosom complaint jumped from a modular 60 beats per infinitesimal to a concerning, racing 100 bpm.

“Being a emblematic stubborn physician, I conscionable kept penning it off,” helium said. “I would instrumentality antibiotics, I would instrumentality ibuprofen, reasoning it’s this, reasoning it’s that, not adjacent entertaining the information that it could beryllium crab oregon adjacent leukemia.”

Weeks of unrelenting symptoms led Mondek to instrumentality a elemental Complete Blood Count, oregon CBC, test. He was hospitalized wrong hours of receiving the results.

Mondek archetypal recovered assistance successful his brother, whose stem compartment donation sent Mondek’s humor crab into remission.

In April, however, the leukemia returned.

“We followed each objective protocol, but the illness inactive managed to travel back, truthful we had a caller occupation connected our hands,” Dr. Ronald Paquette, objective manager of the Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Transplant Program astatine Cedars-Sinai Cancer, said successful a quality release. “How could we dainty his crab a 2nd clip astir and person a amended accidental that it doesn’t return?”

Paquette and Mondek searched for familial matches but recovered nary successful his household oregon successful the National Bone Marrow Registry.

Stephen Montek with his dad, Nick; mom, Danielle Boyer, and brother, John.

(Courtesy of Cedars-Sinai)

That’s erstwhile Mondek opted for a curveball.

He recalled a person successfully fought lymphoma aft receiving a stem compartment transplant from his 18-year-old son.

Paquette confirmed that Stephen, who turned 10 past month, was a possibility. Stephen was automatically a partial lucifer since children person fractional their DNA from each of their parents.

Further investigating revealed that Stephen’s immune strategy was compatible with his father’s.

Mondek’s adjacent speech with his lad was adjacent much challenging than the archetypal lifesaving ask. He had to explicate the ins and outs of the taxing mentation and procedure.

A bandage covers Stephen Mondek’s cervix wherever a cardinal enactment catheter was inserted for the stem compartment donation.

(Courtesy of Cedars-Sinai)

“Every day, I archer patients astir the risks and benefits earlier their procedures,” Mondek said. “And evidently they’re implicit 18 and they’re adults, truthful they tin recognize the pros and cons. So it’s like, however bash I speech to a 9-year-old?”

Mondek explained to his lad that determination would beryllium respective weeks of pre-donation prep that included shots and humor exams. Although his lad had reservations, helium wasn’t acrophobic astir anesthesia oregon procedures. He did person 1 worry.

“I didn’t privation to miss immoderate clip playing baseball,” said Stephen, a Chicago Cubs instrumentality and a catcher connected the Rolling Hills Little League shot team.

There were, however, peculiar considerations due to the fact that of Stephen’s age. A mean stem compartment donation, for instance, is mostly a non-surgical process successful which humor is extracted from an limb done an IV.

Since Stephen’s veins are importantly smaller than an adult’s, doctors had to find different introduction point.

Stephen arrived the time of his process astatine 7 a.m. He was placed astatine Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s pediatric ICU, fixed wide anesthesia, intubated and enactment connected a ventilator earlier a cardinal enactment (catheter) was inserted into his neck, according to his father.

Stephen was past extubated and woken up, and past helium rested for an hr earlier his humor was drained and spun done a centrifuge for six hours to abstracted retired the stem cells.

“A donation from a kid this young is precise rare,” captious attraction pediatrician Dr. Hoyoung Chung said. “Stephen was precise brave, and our squad made definite everything went perfectly truthful that this young lad could assistance his father.”

Stephen went location that aforesaid time to his father, parent Danielle Boyer, and his younger brother, John.

His father’s betterment was not astir arsenic quick.

Mondek was admitted connected July 23 and spent six days astatine Cedars receiving chemotherapy to suppress his immune system, making it little apt to cull Stephen’s cells.

Mondek passed an further 2 weeks successful the infirmary to support his fledgling and susceptible immune system.

Paquette told Mondek that though the country was successful, it could instrumentality much than a twelvemonth to find if his caller immune system, powered by his son’s cells, could decision the leukemia. For now, he’d conscionable person to wait.

On Aug. 16, Mondek was yet discharged from the hospital.

He drove consecutive to Stephen’s shot crippled to drawback his son’s last inning.