For weeks, Jenica and Eric had watched as their son Kai began having problems with his left side. They noticed he had difficulty grasping things with his left hand, which seemed to be growing weaker. Less than a week after Kai’s second birthday, his parents, who were preparing for the birth of their fourth child, heard news that shook their growing family’s foundation: little Kai had a primitive neuroectodermal tumor.

Doctors in Kai’s hometown removed the tumor, but he needed chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Immediately, Jenica and Eric began to research treatment options. At other hospitals, it was difficult for Jenica to speak with anyone directly, but when she called St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, she was immediately connected to a nurse coordinator. “I felt like everything had been lifted off my shoulders,” Jenica said. “It was an answer to my prayers that I could actually talk to someone about Kai.”

Kai arrived at St. Jude with his mother and grandmother. He underwent 10 weeks of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation. At home, he continued to receive chemotherapy, as well as physical therapy for his hand. His last set of scans, however, showed progression of the disease. His tumor has returned to the same location within the tumor bed. An MRI has revealed the cancer is confined to his brain, and doctors are considering which course of treatment to take. Kai will likely need another surgery soon.
Jenica and Eric know that St. Jude is the best place for Kai’s continuing treatment. “There’s hope everywhere you look here,” Jenica said. “The hospital is such a wonderful and inspired place.”

This holiday season, help kids like Kai and their families benefit from the groundbreaking research and life-saving treatments of St. Jude. Beginning the week of Thanksgiving and continuing through the end of the year, support the Thanks and Giving® campaign, an unprecedented union of celebrities, media retail and corporate partners that asks consumers to “Give thanks for the healthy kids in your life, and give to those who are not.” The Thanks and Giving® campaign was created in 2004 by St. Jude National Outreach Director Marlo Thomas, and her siblings Terre and Tony Thomas, the children of hospital founder Danny Thomas.

Funds raised by the campaign support the life-saving mission of St. Jude to find cures for desperately ill children in communities everywhere. Customers are asked to shop at companies that display the magnifying glass logo; donate online at www.stjude.org, where a complete list of fund-raising partners is available; or call 1-800-4STJUDE.