The Friendship Paddle

Nick Fields was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, one half of a set of twins. He grew up playing baseball and gigging with rock bands, including one of his own, “Pookie”. Throughout his childhood, he would regularly make the trip up 101N to Carpinteria to visit family, beat the heat, and sneak in a few sets deep into the cove at Rincon with his uncle. Through these trips, he developed a love for the Central Coast and, at 18 years old, he moved to Isla Vista to attend UCSB. As a Gaucho, Nick continued to deepen his musical chops with Pookie as they bounced from gig to gig. Between upper division English Literature reading lists, surf sessions at Devereux, and pushing the curfew a little later and further out each weekend, Nick had a full collegiate life that was more than enough of a taste to make him a Santa Barbara man for life. Following graduation, he joined a local start-up technology company and worked diligently as a product manager while continuing to rock music clubs as part of two local hit bands. 

In March 2024, while on a trip to the Eastern Sierra Nevada, he started experiencing severe headaches. Over time, the headaches got worse until they reached a debilitating level of pain. Upon his return to Santa Barbara, he sought medical support and, after multiple visits to the emergency room and various tests, the doctors discovered a golf-ball sized tumor on the temporal lobe of his brain.  He immediately underwent surgery and, when he awoke, he discovered that they had successfully removed the tumor along his amygdala. After many visits, consultations and even a visit to the NIH headquarters in DC, Nick’s medical team finally made the diagnosis.

Nick has an extremely rare and aggressive type of brain cancer, Anaplastic Pleomorphic Xanthoastrocytoma (APXA), the likes of which doctors see fewer than 5 cases nationwide each year. Following the craniotomy, Nick underwent a steady dose of radiation and chemotherapy that spanned the rest of 2024. 

As the New Year dawned in 2025, Nick had hopes to put the cancer behind him. His scan results indicated  that he was recurrence free, and his seizures had mostly subsided. Based on this news, he was cleared to drive again and, most importantly, he was back in the water surfing. However, almost a year after the first incident, his April scan results revealed that the cancer was back.  Here we go again. 

A few things are certain for Nick’s future. Following his second craniotomy in May of this year, Nick’s medical team is now working on a secondary treatment plan. Nick hopes to keep surfing, playing music, and living life the way he loves to do it: by engaging in his friendships, both new and old. He is beyond thrilled to be the 2025 Friendship Paddle Honoree and has admitted to selfishly wanting to participate in the paddle; however, he didn’t know  that it would take all that he’s going through to make this year his first (of many) paddles. 

The Friendship Paddle is excited to paddle for, and support Nick Fields this year!