Toms River, N.J. Boy's Typical Day: Getting Sick, Crying, Mother With Breast Cancer

Every day’s struggle for Caden: vomiting, crying and getting little to no sleep.

In his four years, the Toms River boy’s already suffered from at least 25 ailments that are too long to list.

As he gets older, the news only gets worse: Caden’s mom, Jill Zane, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer that has metastasized to her bones and organs, according to the family’s fundraising website.

As time goes on, the Zane family has struggled to get Caden the help he needs - even as the Toms River and Wall Township communities, where Caden’s parents have worked as educators, have offered relentless support.

“Nobody can tell us what’s going on or why,” Jill Zane says on a video (see below) that was produced to chronicle the family’s struggles, and help the family raise money for Caden’s care.

On their youcaring.com website, the family has raised more than $140,000. The goal is to raise $100,000 by Christmas “to lessen the burden of their bills and to contribute to adventures and experiences that will create lifelong memories for Caden and his family,” according the website.

Jill Zane has sold “Cause Caden Can” T-Shirts, donating the money to struggling families in the community. “Caden’s Christmas” Fundraiser will directly and specifically benefit the Zane Family, according to the website.

On Saturday, about 50 members of the Wall Township PBA 234 and Toms River PBA 137 helped clean up the exterior of the Zane family home in Toms River. This included trimming, landscaping, removing leaves, cutting the grass, cleaning the gutters and laying down mulch in the landscape beds.

“Following the cleanup, we brought Christmas decorations and placed lights, wreaths, garland, and bows on the front of the house,” said James Cadigan, Wall Township PBA 234 president, said on the PBA’s Facebook page. “As neighbors of the Zane’s started to emerge from their homes to see what was happening, we continued by cleaning the exterior of their homes as well.

Matt and Jill Zane battled fertility issues for several years. Jill became pregnant with twins through IVF. Eight weeks into the pregnancy, one of the eggs split, giving Matt and Jill triplets in August 2010, according to the family’s website.

One of the three children, Caden, became “a medically complex, chronically ill disabled little boy.” But not at first: The parents, on the video, say Caden was initially the healthiest of the three.

A few days after he was born, Caden had a brain bleed and ultimately developed brain damage. The mystery, Jill says, is that so many of his ailments - intestinal motility disorder, constipation, myoclonus, to name a few - don’t appear to be directly connected to the brain.

He has a feeding tube and he’s thrown up over 3,000 times in his life, she said.

“We’re really at the point now where we’re just hoping he gets to his fifth birthday,” Jill says on the video.

The family says they want to achieve Jill’s goal of finding new doctors who believe they can help Caden “beyond a brief visit,” according to the fundraising website. They hope to reach a wide audience of people who may take interest in helping Caden beyond donations.

To help Caden, follow Jill’s blog: http://causecadencan.blogspot.com.

On Dec. 12, at its Christmas Party, members of Wall PBA will also be donating cash and gift card donations to help the Zane Family.

Those wishing to contribute can contact Cadigan at 732-449-4500 extension 1162 or drop the donation off at Wall Township Police Headquarters, 2700 Allaire Rd., prior to December 12.