This beautiful baby boy is our Xander Kai. He is my daughter Cierra's (Anni's) only child, and it is my blessing in life to be his grandma. He is non-verbal, and autistic, red-haired (like his Mommy), has the most contagious giggles and he is absolutely the sweetest little soul I know.

On April 5th of this year, Xander had to have an unexpected emergency surgery to remove a very large, high grade tumor from his brain. We are still waiting for pathology to determine the specific type of tumor, but they have narrowed it down to a few possibilities - all of which are scary, aggressive and life-threatening. We know for certain that he's being scheduled for radiation therapy, which will last 6 weeks or more, and it's possible he'll need chemotherapy, too. His vision hasn't entirely returned, he's still re-learning to walk and he's going through physical, speech and occupational therapies daily that will need to continue indefinitely.

At this point Xan has been an inpatient (at both Peyton Manning and Riley Children's Hospitals) for the entirety of his care so far, and it looks like they are planning to keep him as an inpatient throughout his radiation treatments. Cierra is a single mother, and because of his young age, the distance from the hospital and his autism she stays at the hospital with him 24/7. She hasn't been able to work since he got sick and right now, it doesn't look like she will be able to for quite some time. We are hoping to raise money to assist with their medical and living expenses, bills, or whatever else they may need so that she can continue to focus on Xander's care, and treatments -and to continue to be there when he needs his Mommy the most.

There is no pressure to give anything, we understand not everyone will be able to help in this way, and we are still eternally grateful for your continued prayers and love and support! We just want to make sure that we're giving our little guy the best possible chance that we can, in every way that we can.

We love you, Kai-Kai!

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