Help Baby Kai Overcome Childhood Cancer

My name is Jeannine Dixon, and I am helping my daughter Jasmine Dixon raise funds for her son, infant son Kai. Kai spent the weekend with me when I noticed a weird glow in his left eye. When I kept seeing this glow, I just knew this wasn't right. Having spent several years managing an eye care office, it just didn't sit well with me, so I mentioned to Jasmine to get Kai an appointment ASAP.

Kai was seen that Tuesday, October 15, and diagnosed with Retinoblastoma that same day! We were sent immediately to the Retinal Oncologist, who gave us some insight on this childhood cancer and how rare it is. The next step was to have a EUA (Exam under Anesthesia) to determine the position of the tumor and the degree of any damage or spreading of any cells or clusters. This was done and found that Kai has a huge tumor in his left eye, and he has a free-floating cluster of cancer cells that may change position. The tumor is in a good position that Kai does currently still have good sight and may possibly be able to save some sight IF chemotherapy and laser therapy work and do no further damage to the retina, macula, or optic nerve.

There are so many moving parts to this! We have also done genetic testing to find out if Kai has the RB1 gene. This will determine if Kai will be predisposed to many other cancers that are associated with Retinoblastoma as well as his current fight with this disease. He could continue to develop other tumors in the same eye or in the right eye.

Kai has also started his first cycle of chemotherapy. This was done directly into the eye through intra-arterial chemotherapy. This was a very hard procedure on baby Kai since he is so little and so young. He has done well with his first round of chemo, but it was also just a trial round of just one medication at a very conservative measure to see how he could do with it. If this did not have much effect on his tumors, then he will need to do the full dose, which will have many more side effects. We will soon be doing the next EUA to see how much the first cycle of chemo has shrunk the tumor and what the next cycle will need to be done.

We come to you to ask that you help by either sharing our story or by donating anything that you can. As you can imagine, the medical expenses as well as the expenses of caring for an ill child who can no longer go to daycare have affected Jasmine in many ways. She has lost her long-time job and now needs to find help in the same ways she has tried to help the community.