At 10:25 this morning, Nick Mendez passed away, surrounded by his family. My mother, father, and I were all with him, as his memory will always be with us. He passed peacefully, heavily sedated, as he slept. …

On Friday, Nick’s oncologist informed us that the osteosarcoma has metastasized to his lungs. This is consistent with the typical path of this tumor. He has no symptoms, and we shouldn’t expect symptoms for some …

What a weekend! We flew out of Palo Alto in a private plane and were in Vegas two hours later, where a car met us to take us to the Encore. The Encore is the …

When my brother underwent his most recent surgery to remove some necrotic bone and tissue that was causing infections, the surgeons biopsied two other areas. The first place they biopsied was a spot on his …

After countless bacterial and fungal infections, clinic visits, scans and hospitalizations, Nick decided to undergo a surgical procedure to remove dead and infected bone, clean up the opening he has in his cheek and take …

Many of you that are also Facebook friends with my brother are aware that he’s battling cancer for the fourth time.  As of this morning, he has been in the hospital with an infection for …

After 13 days in the hospital we received news today that Nick was infected with a fungus called Acremonium. Of course, this type of fungus rarely causes disease in humans. If there is anything we …

I remember awhile back writing about how hospitals should really get into the hospitality business. I can handle the basic stuff: kid with cancer, current hospital visit due to serious infection of unknown origin, sleeping …

On Sunday July 12th we were looking forward to getting out of the hospital. We did everything possible to clear the methotrexate (MTX) and get to discharge criteria level: less than .10. Nick walked around, …

I woke up very early this morning and it occurs to me that we have a tendency to bury our feelings in the midst of great challenges. After all, dads are supposed to be tough …