Help 3 year old Caim Aldape Beat Liver Cancer

Hello friends,

3-year-old toddler, Caim Aldape of Ithaca, NY, was unexpectedly diagnosed with high-risk liver cancer on Sunday, December 10, 2022. It came as a cruel shock to his family, friends, and the entire community. We had all been looking forward to seeing the amazing Caim make his debut that weekend at a special Christmas-themed event and Caim's parents, Juan Manuel and Melissa Aldape had thrown an open invitation to their home for friends, the church, and the community.

Instead, Caim's parents had to rush him to the ER and from the hospital in Ithaca all the way to Syracuse, where they discovered that same weekend that their darling only child was suspected to have high-risk rare liver cancer - hepatoblastoma - later confirmed to be present in all lobes of his little liver.

Caim is a shining light, a little champion, who loves drumming, music, science, chatting with adults and children, Zumba, and Animal planet discoveries. He is inquisitive and full of faith and hope. As he bravely battles this cancer, the doctors have started him on a very aggressive chemotherapy treatment plan that requires his parents to travel with him out of town several times every month. However, Caim might face a liver transplant if a portion of his native liver cannot be saved after several months of the brutal chemotherapy regimen. If Caim has to have a transplant, then this will be done at Columbia in New York City, and if a part of his liver can be saved, he will need a resection at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, both hospitals are a 5-hour drive from Ithaca.

Caim’s parents, Juan Manuel and Melissa Aldape care for him with so much love and devotion, and their endurance, strength, and faith have been an encouragement to many. Melissa has had to take full leave from her busy job in order to care for Caim who can no longer attend his beloved Ithaca Montessori school while undergoing chemo. But in the meantime, Caim has become very curious in learning everything about human anatomy as you can see below:

As Juan Manuel and Melissa go through the deep emotional pain of seeing their little toddler suffer through cancer, they also have to cope with mounting medical bills, travel, and other mounting expenses, while on a reduced income.

The Aldapes are inspiring, wonderful, and caring, and they have brought so much joy to many in our community, to their friends, family, colleagues, students, and the church. It is heartbreaking to see them all go through this and we all marvel at how Caim and his parents manage to smile and share encouraging words of the grace of God with others even through days of pain, agony, and complete exhaustion. Juan Manuel and Melissa have shared that since summer Caim’s favorite two musicians have been Blessing Offor and Blessing Annatoria, (a wonderful coincidence of name similarity). Listen to "Blessing Annatoria I Smile " here and take some time to celebrate life, grace, and hope.

Please give whatever you can to support them all as they come through this journey that no parent hopes to see their child endure. GoFundme charges a small transaction fee for each donation, please consider paying that fee so your full donation goes to Caim's family. You can also give directly to Juan Manuel and Melissa using their Venmo handle: @aldape.

Apart from giving, sharing this link with your network would also be a great way to help & please keep Caim and his family in your prayers.

God bless you all.

Peyi Soyinka-Airewele

To learn more about Caim's journey, please follow his story on Caring Bridge where his parents post journal updates to keep Caim's support village informed: Caim Aldape on CaringBridge.