Kalanis bucket list

Hi my name is Josie. I am Kalani’s mom. After two years of fighting cancer, we are going to start focusing on living life to the fullest. Our hope is to raise enough money to take time off work to accompany Kalani in fulfilling his bucket list with the time we have left. 

At 10 years old, Kalani was diagnosed with B-Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with c-MYC arrangement in July 2020. He received several rounds of chemo and went into remission later that year. In October of 2021, he was complaining of his teeth hurting, so we naturally thought it was his molars bothering him. Boy were we wrong––he relapsed, but this time with Burkitt Lymphoma. A tumor had grown on his face and rapidly. He was given chemo, he had CAR-T therapy, more chemo and radiation then finally a stem cell transplant (with his 9-year-old little brother as the donor). With each new treatment plan we just knew “this will cure him,” and it should have, but this form of cancer is just too advanced.

Some of the things on Kalani’s bucket list are: 

    •    Go to Sea World, Universal Studios and Legoland in Florida
    •    Visit family in Hawaii
    •    Drive across the country to see the Grand Canyon and Mt. Rushmore

Kalani is an extraordinary kid who dreamed of being a marine biologist. His love for the ocean has given him strength throughout this whole process. He says he wants to show people that the ocean is like life: You have to look beyond the scary parts to see the true beauty of it!

You can follow Kalani’s story on Facebook using the hashtag #KalaniStrong or on Instagram @kalanitejedor.