November 04, 2017 11:02 PM

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Nine-year-old Jacob Thompson loves Christmas, but his doctors in Maine have told his parents he may succumb to his advanced-stage cancer before then. So his family is planning an early Christmas for him and asking people to send Jacob homemade Christmas cards now.

WCSH-TV reports Jacob was diagnosed at age 5 with stage 4 neuroblastoma, a cancer that starts in the nerve cells and generally affects infants and young children.