MIRACLE MONDAYS – Juan Mendoza

In January of 2016, Juan Mendoza’s mother noticed a lump in her son’s neck. “He had a high fever out of nowhere,” said Jennifer Valencia, Juan’s Mom. “After days of testing and three hometown ER visits, we were sent to St. John’s. Within 20 minutes of arrival, they told me to prepare myself…it might be cancer.”

It was. Juan was diagnosed with stage four anaplastic large cell lymphoma. “I was terrified,” said Jennifer. “I was angry. I couldn’t believe this was happening to my family and to my baby boy. I was trying to figure out how I was going to juggle everything. It was hard..financially, physically, emotionally and spiritually. In my eyes, cancer is the devil in physical form.”

After beating cancer for six months, it returned.

It was a hard road for Juan since the cancer had not only returned, but had metastsized almost everywhere. He needed a bone marrow transplant. “In September this year, he developed a high fever after his bone marrow transplant which was very dangerous for him. I remember not knowing if my baby was going to come out of it alive. I remember praying harder than I’d ever prayed in my life.”

Juan is now doing great. He has 13 more cycles of outpatient chemo ahead of him but his transplant was successful.

“We have received the most incredible care possible at St. John’s Children’s Hospital. When we are there, we truly feel at home with everyone…it’s very comfortable.”

Do you have a miracle child that was treated as HSHS St. John’s Children’s Hospital? Facebook message us or email dave.newton@hshs.org and tell us your story! #miraclemondays