Kacey's Krew

2026 update since the last walk:

In August 2025, Kacey had repeat scans after 4 rounds of chemotherapy. The tumor did shrink which was hopeful. But it did not disappear like we prayed it would. After her case was discussed with the tumor board. It was decided that the tumor was now operable. 

In September 2025 Kacey underwent tumor resection surgery. The surgical team was able to remove the entire baseball size tumor and a few lymph nodes in the area. But when the pathology results came back, we learned there were still viable cancer cells. This news felt like a gut punch. Her fight was not over. 

Kacey would need more chemotherapy and a more intense regimen at that. We started right away with high-dose chemo and she completed 4 more rounds. It took a lot out of her. It was some of the hardest months of our lives as we watched it steal so much more. Her hair, her appetite, and her spunk. We basically lived at CHOI and each cycle took longer for her body to recover from than the one before. 

In December 2025, Kacey finished her last round of chemo. Then came the big scan day.. tumor markers were checked and another CT scan completed. 

On December 31, 2025 we received the call: it worked! Our baby girl was cancer - free! After a very hard 8 month battle, what an incredible way to bring in the New Year!

Into 2026, we continue follow up care in the clinic in Peoria. repeat labs every two months and repeat scans every 3 months. Nephrology appts because of the effect chemo had on her kidneys, audiology appointments because she could lose high frequency hearing due to chemo, etc. Kacey is still in remission today, and that is something we quietly celebrate every single day. We will never take this time for granted. 

And while we are forever grateful for the medical team at CHOI, we'll never forget how much St. Jude made possible for our family and our Kacey girl. I don’t know for sure because we never saw a medical bill but I would guess it would be over a million dollars at this point. And that is why we are St Jude donors for life. 

2025:

My daughter Kacey was diagnosed with stage 4 germ cell tumor at 14 months old. She has been through 4 cycles of chemotherapy. We are waiting for repeat scans at the end of August to hopefully see that the chemotherapy worked and the tumor is no longer active. 

We are doing this walk and fundraising to help other kiddos like ours and their families. 

Our goal of $1,700 represents the cost of one day of intravenous chemotherapy for a St. Jude patient battling leukemia or a solid tumor. For context, Kacey's diagnosis is a solid tumor and she has undergone 20 days of chemotherapy - that's $34,000 in treatment cost alone, not including her 40 overnight stays, procedures and scans. Through it all we have never received a single medical bill. 

Our journey with Kacey continues but we feel deeply compelled to give back. No family should have to choose between affording life-saving treatment and making ends meet. Thanks to St. Jude we didn't have to - and we want that for other families, too. 

Thank you for walking with us, standing beside us, and believing in a future where no family faces childhood cancer alone. Every step helps save lives. That’s why our team has signed up to fundraise for the St. Jude Walk as we join the nationwide movement to honor Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and support those who need us most — the kids of St. Jude.

Can we count on you to make a donation or join our team?

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

In addition to supporting groundbreaking research, your donation or participation also helps ensure families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – so they can focus on helping their child live. You can help us make a difference.

Thank you for supporting us and the lifesaving work happening at St. Jude today.